Welcome to 2010-- Looking at the Year Ahead
Coleman Advocates wants to wish everyone a happy new year! In the midst of a continuing economic recession that is hurting San Francisco's already struggling poor and working class families and residents and a reactionary political landscape on the state and national level, we at Coleman actually do see some real hope as we enter into this new year! While times are tough, this political and economic moment is forcing all of us to have real conversations about our values, our priorities, and what kind of economic solutions we believe will pave the way towards racial and economic justice!
Coleman Families Take Critical Next Step in A-G Campaign, and Set Benchmarks to Evaluate Progress!
Eight months after the historic Board of Education vote that passed the policy setting the A-G requirements as the default curriculum and graduation requirement for the District, Coleman youth and parent leaders continue to move forward with our campaign to secure a future for all students in San Francisco! Passing the A-G policy at the Board of Education was an incredible victory, improves achievement outcomes and increases opportunities for Black, Latino and Pacific Islander students, to get to college, get good jobs, and have a secure future in their own city. Even more important now is ensuring that the implementation of that policy includes changes in District policies and school practices that truly impact the day-to-day learning and educational experiences of SFUSD students.
Last week, Coleman's youth and parent leaders—Black and Latino students and parents—gathered in our community room to discuss and decide on the key benchmarks and indicators for the District's A-G policy! Coleman leaders identified approximately twenty priority benchmarks, which is a critical step in the implementation process, since these benchmarks will be the way that the community and the District can measure whether A-G implementation is successful.
Coleman is continuing to actively participate in the A-G Implementation Task Force, and in the next couple of weeks, we will be meeting with Board of Education members and key SFUSD staff to share our priority benchmarks with decision-makers. Within the next month, Coleman will publicly release our A-G Benchmark Agenda—stay tuned for more exciting developments! For more information about Coleman's education equity work, contact Arnulfo De La Cruz at (415) 239-0161 or adelacruz@colemanadvocates.org.
Governor's Proposed Budget for FY 2010-11: Deep Cuts, No New Taxes
Last week, Governor Schwarzenegger released his proposed budget for the State of California for next fiscal year, 2010-2011. Faced with a $19.9 billion deficit over the next 18 months, the Governor has proposed a budget with significant tax cuts and even more significant cuts to health services, human services and public education. Thanks to the California Budget Project for the analysis; their "quick and dirty" summary of the proposed budget is available on their website at: http://www.cbp.org/pdfs/2010/100108_Gov_Budget.pdf.
Highlights (or lowlights) include:
- The proposal assumes that the State will receive significantly increased federal stimulus funds. If these funds are not received, the Governor’s proposal is to increase the existing temporary taxes and to implement cuts, including the elimination of CalWorks, In-Home Supportive Services, Healthy Families, and including severe cuts to higher education, foster care transition programs and Medi-Cal.
- The Governor proposes no new tax increases, but the proposal does include tax cuts which would reduce state revenues and widen the budget gap!?
- A break-down, by percentages, of the Governor’s proposed spending reductions is as follows: 34% of the cuts are to health and human services programs; 29% of the cuts are to K-14 education and child development programs; 19% of the cuts are to state employee compensation; 14% of the cuts are to corrections and rehabilitation; and the remaining 4% of cuts are to other areas of state government.
- The Governor’s proposed budget includes a constitutional amendment that would cap state spending for prisons at 7% of General Fund spending beginning in 2014-15, and require that at least 10% of General Fund spending to go to higher education.
Real impacts to San Francisco are still being assessed. Currently, city departments are crafting their proposed budgets for next fiscal year, based on Mayor Newsom’s budget instructions to reduce their general fund spending by 30%. It is clear that while economists are predicting a recovery, it will take some time to climb out of this recession. In the meantime, on both a local and state level, calls are increasing for progressive and fair solutions to the budget, including progressive revenue ideas, the reform of Prop 13, and cost-savings that minimize impacts to direct services and vulnerable populations! Stay tuned for more information on these developing conversations. For more info, contact Chelsea at (415) 239-0161 or cboilard@colemanadvocates.org.
DCYF Citizens’ Advisory Committee Meeting: Tomorrow!
The DCYF CAC meeting is tomorrow, January 14, 2010 at 5:30am at 101 Grove Street, Room 300. The agenda includes DCYF's budget planning and cuts for next year, public comment, a follow-up discussion from the special budget meeting held a month ago. If you have questions about the meeting, please contact Raymond Windsor at (415) 554-8991 or Ray@DCYF.org.
Mayor’s Mid-Year Cuts to Be Reviewed
On Wednesday, January 20, the Board of Supervisors’ Budget and Finance Committee will be reviewing and possibly taking action on the Mayor’s mid-year budget cuts, which were released in December. That round of cuts mostly spared direct services within DCYF and HSA, but several health programs funded through DPH took a hit. For a list of the Mayor’s December mid-year cuts, visit http://www.sfmayor.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/Mid-Year-Cut-Letter-to-BOS-12.17.09-SIGNED.PDF.
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In This Issue:
We believe that all children have the right to a secure future in San Francisco.
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