Comments by Don Pettengill
September 28, 2008
Julia Scott was the San Mateo County Times reporter for coverage on one Cabrillo school bond measure, for which I attended a San Mateo Times interview, along with proponents. I didn't find her coverage to be fair: proponents' claims were uncritically echoed, while none of the strongest opposition points - even those in the voter pamphlet arguments - were so much as mentioned. I stopped returning her phone calls after the first election, since biased coverage is worse than no coverage. To be fair…
May 17, 2008
I oppose measure O for very simple reasons:
* The cost of living already is very high in San Mateo County. Increasing the sales tax will make it higher still.
* The poor in this county - and yes, there are such - are disproportionately hit already by sales tax, and will be even more so with a sales tax increase.
Please read carefully the arguments for/against in the voter information guide. Then vote your conscience.
June 16, 2006
All, Ray makes the statement "Our community is not contributing near enough to our public schools". What, exactly, is "enough"? "Everybody is doing it" won't wash. Ordinary citizens can tell full well what is going on, when presented with the facts: education spending is soaring, while student achievement is at best flat, and at worst, declining. School district "peer pressure" is a poor reason to send more money into this sinkhole. There are many changes to improve our schools that cost not a penny,…
June 10, 2006
Mr. Dantes and Mr, Olson, I'm sorry; I just don't have the time to explain to person after person, time after time, the school finance numbers from the ed-data site. I believe a careful exploration of that site will reveal what the numbers mean, but to the extent that some remain confused, they will have to decide for themselve whom to believe. The numbers quoted in the ballot arguments should be decisive, as they are presented under threat of severe sanction if incorrect, unlike Coastsider comments,…
June 09, 2006
Ray, Sorry, I don't know what you are talking about re: "spinning a tale". Surely you are not still talking about how much in local tax dollars goes to the schools? I agree the facts are the numbers and they are at the referenced web site: over $4,000 per student comes from local taxes and fees. What's more, that figure is in the ballot argument and would have been challenged if incorrect. It wasn't challenged because it *is* factually correct - as is the assertion (also in the ballot argument) that…
June 09, 2006
Ray, Re: how much in local taxes is used to fund our district - I know where your numbers are from. I know that ed-data site very well. The "Revenue Limit" income is where (most of) the local taxes are listed. As Jonathan has pointed out, the State sets the total "Revenue Limit" number, then the local taxes are used to get towards it, and any shortfall is made up by the state. All this is explained on the web site, and there are other resources on it too, on the state dept of ed site. I'm sorry but…
June 08, 2006
Hi Jonathan, As far as the school district is concerned, yes, you're dead right. However, if one looks at all the assorted things that "property taxes" are supposed to fund, then to the extent that education funding squeezes out other things like libraries, parks and recreation, roads, transportation, etc etc, it makes a very real difference. Our unincorporated coastside is very ill-served in all these areas. Apart from incorporation, which brings its own problems, I really don't know what the solution…
June 08, 2006
Ray:
You say: "Local revenue in our school district is only $9 more per child than the state avg ($427 for CUSD vs 418 for the State). It is not as you say."
I said it was more than double. It is.
From the ed-data site:
http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us
Revenue Limit Sources
Cabrillo Unified, 2004-05
$/child, Cabrillo $/child, state avg
Local taxes $4042 $1857
and fees
It's really not that hard to look these things up!
Don
June 07, 2006
To Ray: You quote average household incomes, and compare to per-child funding. Perhaps you should also compare it to per-child funding from local taxes - which is about *double* here, than the state average. By this measure, taxpayers here already fund education at a rate substantially higher than the state average. By the way, that information is also in the ballot argument. You also say you heard no "valid" argument against S; but again, please read the ballot arguments. You will disagree with…
June 06, 2006
Dan, You say: "Bottom line: You get what you pay for.". Ah, if only thet were true! again, international - and national - comparisons show that, while we are paying for Cadillac education, we are getting model-T results. CUSD has vastly increased funding compared to the 90s. And what do we get for this, having paid for it? "Cuts". As long as the district resists changing course and implementing neccessary reforms, with strong financial incentives for excellence and strong financial disincentives…
June 05, 2006
Hello All, Well, it's almost The Day. Probably everyone already has made up theirs minds by now, but in case there are some undecided: * Read carefully the Ballot Arguments. One correction to the California State Education budget: the proposal is *up* now by another $6 BILLION for this coming year. * Read this whole string of arguments and counter arguments, and decide for yourself who is hand-waving and who is making a rational case for or against Measure S. Regardless of the outcome, let's all…
June 05, 2006
Re: Ken King's comments my my family's UK education, Ken - my brother is doing very well, thank you - better than I am, actually! But none of this "class warfare" rhetoric is really very relevant to the real issue: will Measure S improve things, or not? We've made a very good case that Measure S is more of the same - spending more money, on the same things (mostly, district employee salaries) and in the same ways (by longevity, rather than by performance and specialty), which have failed to help…
June 05, 2006
Re: Ken King's comments my my family's UK education, Ken - my brother is doing very well, thank you - better than I am, actually! But none of this "class warfare" rhetoric is really very relevant to the real issue: will Measure S improve things, or not? We've made a very good case that Measure S is more of the same - spending more money, on the same things (mostly, district employee salaries) and in the same ways (by longevity, rather than by performance and specialty), which have failed to help…
June 04, 2006
Ken, Having been educated in the UK, I cannot agree with your opinion of it. My own bother was one of your "trade school" kids"; but contrary to what you say, he received an excellent and appropriate education. He has no degree, but has far better knowledge and skills in his area of expertise than most of the college graduates he deals with (as he often tells me with amazement). He got an education - not a piece of paper - and it has stood him in good stead. As for your Lake Wobegone comment, we…
June 03, 2006
Joel, You say, "Years of cuts" ? Look at the actual district financial reports, or - horror of horrors! - make the effort to read the ballot arguments. District revenue is far higher now than in the early and mid nineties - when we *had* busing. You say, "When people claim they WOULD have supported Measure S if it included busing, they may not realize that the cost of busing was 1/3 of the budget." Nonsense. In 2002-3 - the last year, I believe, we had busing - out of $24 million in general fund…
June 02, 2006
Ray, One last comment:; you say :"And your reference to the bottom 20% of college students becoming teachers is only due to the fact that teacher salaries are much lower then what any average college student can earn". An objective (and nonjudgemental) analysis of teacher pay, is here: http://www.edsource.org/pdf/TeachersCompFinal.pdf You will see there that teacher pay is very competitive - normalised to the 9-month work year. One asks why schools should be closed in lock-step for 3 months, given…
June 02, 2006
Ray, The data on the overwhelming influence of teacher quality over class size, is absolutely unambiguous, and solidly backed up by international comparisons, as well as by longitudinal analyses of US data. Did you know, for example, that while class sizes have been decreasing across the US and in California also the last 40 years, that there has been no improvement at all in student achievement - and, by some measures, these have worsened? There are plenty of our best and brightest available for…
June 01, 2006
Ray, "most teachers [they] can probably make more money working at Burger King than as a teacher". Of course, this is complete nonsense. The average teacher salary (2004-5, CUSD) is about $57,000, and this for 9 months' work. That's around $37 per hour, for a 170-hour month. Try getting anywhere close to that in Burger King - especially with the teacher benefit package! "API ratings are based on how well each kid scores on the test which is correlated to how much time was given to each kid to prepare…
May 26, 2006
A letter to the Editor for several local publications: "Yes on S" say local organizations and dignitaries, and the signs are plastered everywhere. Why not just check the "yes" box and be done with it? It would certainly make *my* life easier! Happy as I'd be to oblige, that wouldn't help our children; rather, they'll be better off when the district sheds certain delusions. Chief among these is that lack of money explains its educational failures. Pro-S arguments dwell long on funding "cuts" responsible…
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