Among the governor’s 2010-11 state budget proposals is a $1.2 billion cut to school central office administration.
This proposal will require legislative review and buy-in by both houses of the Legislature, pursuant to the annual budget development process. It is likely to be altered, but will require strong advocacy from ACSA’s regional membership to ensure it is not included in the final budget.
School Services of California has released a report detailing the proposed Standardized Account Code Structure function codes that are focused on administrative cuts. ACSA’s own investigation to determine the definition of "central district administration" has produced similar SACS codes. However, ACSA notes that at this time the governor’s administration has not officially released language proposing how such a reduction would occur.
According to ACSA Legislative Advocate Adonai Mack and Management Services Executive Brett McFadden, data used to make a potential determination of the $1.2 billion targeted reduction to LEA administrative costs would likely be from 2007-08. This represents approximately 12 percent of the costs spent on administrative activities statewide in 2007-08, not the estimated 10 percent described in the governor’s budget proposal.
The SACS function codes that could be used in the governor’s proposal include:
•2100-2150 – Instructional Supervision and Administration. This includes resources dedicated to instructional supervision, instructional research, curriculum development, in-house instructional staff development and instructional administration of special projects.
•7100-7700 – General Adminis-tration. This includes resources dedicated to board and superintendent, external financial audit-single audit, external financial audit-other, other general administration, indirect cost transfers and centralized data processing.
•8100-8400 – Maintenance and Operations. This includes resources dedicated to plant maintenance and operation and security.
As LEAs develop their Second Interim Fiscal Reports, potential March 15 Notices and June budgets, ACSA recommends focusing analysis on the overall reduction of $1.5 billion in 2010-11 Proposition 98 funding. This would include the revenue limit reduction associated with the negative 2010-11 COLA and the proposed revenue limit reduction associated with the governor’s administrative cut proposal.
ACSA remains in concurrence with other statewide K-adult education management entities that these two estimates should be utilized as part of an LEA’s second interim and June budget planning. But ACSA continues to be concerned that the overall fiscal situation facing LEAs could further deteriorate by the May Revision. This is because the governor’s proposed budget included a variety of potentially flawed assumptions that could impact the final revenue limit cut LEAs have to take in 2010-11.
"Unfortunately, at this time ACSA cannot tell how bad that could be, nor give any solid dollar amount to factor into multi-year projections," Mack said. "The fiscal and political situation remains extremely fluid with a number of unpredictable variables at play."
Local and regional advocacy
The governor’s proposal is nonsensical, Mack and McFadden said. Not only would it severely reduce already decimated vital leadership functions within district offices, but it would also negatively impact the day-to-day operations necessary to maintain high quality instructional programs.
"This proposal attacks the core principles for which ACSA was formed and fails to recognize the importance of strong leadership in providing a quality educational environment for all students," McFadden said.
Compared to national standards, California schools are already under-administrated. Nationally, there is one district-level administrator for every 761 students; in California, that ratio is one to 2,366.
ACSA notes that this is merely the governor’s proposal, and the budget process is lengthy with dramatic changes likely as it moves from January to the May Revision to the final enacted budget.
However, ACSA believes that the targeted cut to administration can only be defeated with an effective campaign that points out the discrepancy in the numbers and focuses on the critical importance quality leadership plays when it comes to ongoing student achievement.
ACSA urges education leaders to utilize online materials when communicating to their LEA staff, boards, communities, and local and state political representatives. Click here to obtain talking points posted online. Contact ACSA Governmental Relations at (800) 608-ACSA for additional assistance with this effort.