Claim the Problem as City's Own

January 28, 2003

Dear Editor,

While there has been much discussion and media coverage of the direct impact of the State and City budget shortfalls on the public schools, I would like to address an additional, profound, indirect effect.

The deficit threatening the school district is larger, relatively, than that which impacts the city as a whole. Among the cuts being proposed are significant staff reductions at the District and individual site levels; elimination of music and other arts programs; elimination of school nurses, athletic coaches, librarians and some administrators; and a significant increase in class sizes.

But contributing to the enormity of those losses is something I would like to call a "time imperative." By this I mean that a child whose education suffers through this interval, which by all estimates will last several years, is affected in a unique, lasting way.

Valuable learning experiences, which lay the groundwork for future understanding of concepts, are forfeit. Simply put, children have windows of opportunity to master information, and each year that they are under-served puts them further and further behind.

You and I, as adults, will surely struggle with the inconvenience and anxiety of an uncertain financial future, but our personal development will not be jeopardized. Can the same be said of children in schools with little funding for arts or athletics, no school nurse or librarian, little opportunity to identify or serve children with special needs, reduced administrative presence, and classes containing 35 to 45 students?

Concerned parents and citizens of Santa Monica are asking for the aid of the City Council and City Manager because we feel it is the right thing to do for the children's future. But to this emotional appeal I add a pragmatic one.

Would any of us deny that excellent public schools lie at the heart of our city's health and future? How can the quality of Santa Monica schools be sustained without the City's intervention?

The cuts are so severe and comprehensive in scope that even the passage of a parcel tax in June, while critical, will be inadequate to compensate for the entire shortfall. Assistance is required from the City as well if there is any hope of maintaining a majority of services.

I ask the City Council and City Manager to put away previous perceptions about the role of city government in maintaining the financial health of the school district. I ask you to start anew to craft a partnership that holds at its heart concern for children and which will serve other community's as a model of cooperation and leadership. I ask you to claim this problem as the City's own, not only for the children, but for each resident of Santa Monica.