The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education recently voted to spend $800,000 to help make up for the Education Foundation's failure to raise $4 million as part of the districtwide fundraising campaign to support the new Vision for Student Success, which is supposed to give each student equal opportunity to learn. It's a controversial program, one that limits parents' ability to give directly to their child's school.
So, this week, Q-Line asks:
Do you think it was wise for the board to give the money, and why?
Here are your responses:
"As long as the school board can come up with the money by not asking for more money from the city or from the community by pushing for more property tax bonds, I could be interested in supporting them. Mostly I am interested in how they are going to accomplish this. That should mean they would reduce some spending to be able to fund the difference. However, the school board shows that they need to go back to school to learn math so they can budget money appropriately as they keep requesting the city or property owners to give them more funds than they receive. Thus it is apparent how clueless they are and we should be worried for the education they are responsible for providing and, therefore, we should not accept this move from them."
"Where do you think the school board got that $800,000 reserve? My guess is from the 1,000 employees working for the school district who haven't received a raise in five years and, on top of that, have taken 10 days a year forced unpaid time off. It takes a village socialism is supportive of the ego, but socialism is only great until you run out of other people's money. Malibu has taught the district's Hillary clones a very good lesson. I hope they succeed in breaking away from Santa Monica. The Education Foundation is an example of the rot that has become the norm in this town. Reward wrong ideologies, incompetent leaders, ill choices, and parents who have watched too much Oprah. Malibu parents have talent, maybe luck, work hard and forgo the easy and not do stupid things. I've worked hard since the fifth grade and I'm still stupid, but I don't expect anyone to support me, a value I am very proud of, something the school board has yet to learn."
"The question you should be asking this week is ‘Has the SMMUSD shown enough gratitude to the foundation for giving them $3.2 million?'"
"I think it was wise this time around since it was the board's bright idea to change the way parents can contribute to their child's education. But in future years, if the Education Foundation continues to come up short with fundraising, the board needs to look closely at the policy of districtwide fundraising and consider whether or not we should continue in this fashion. While I think that the ultimate goal of making sure that all children have an equal opportunity to learn is laudable, I am not confident that it can be achieved. Some schools that raised more money in the past will ultimately lose the programs they once had, and yes, there will be equality, but the base line will be lowered. That doesn't sound like a good idea to me."
"No, I think the board has shown over the years it is unable to balance its budgets and has time and time again come back to the taxpayers for more. We can no longer keep opening up our wallets. There must come a time when the board tightens its belt and deals with the harsh reality that education funding is drying up. Tough decisions need to be made, teaching positions my have to be cut, class sizes increased and extracurriculars reduced. But we cannot just keep spending without being somewhat thrifty."
"Our children are our greatest assets and we need to do everything we can to ensure they get the best educational possible. Without education, our whole community, state, nation and the world will suffer. So, yes, I do think the board was right in giving that money. And it should continue to do so in future years if needed. We cannot scrimp when it comes to educating our youth."
"No, this issue once again shows the complete incompetence of the school board. Their program failed and now they want to waste money they claim they don't have. Why would you ever have changed the old program if the new one results in nearly a loss of $1 million? Of course parents want to donate money to their own schools. Donations go wherever the donor wants it to."
