Thursday, September 26, 2013

Forum on State and Fate of Public Education in South Bay?

Dear Assemblyman Muratsuchi:

I recently attended a seminar which you hosted on the Affordable Care Act.

You introduced to a small community of constituents to Ms. Marcia Davalos, a representative from the Small Business Majority.

She provided a number of graphs, statistics, and interlinking talking points discussing the rollout of Obamacare.

There is another issue which deserves greater attention, Assemblyman, which I fear has not received proper vetting for South Bay voters.

That issue is education, specifically the current condition of our youth's education in our local public schools. I have heard troubling reports regarding the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) which was supposed to supply greater funding to all California schools. Local school leaders have informed me that they do not know how much money they will receive this year from Sacramento. They also have no guiding rubrics or expectations for how to allocate and evaluate the spending of our state’s tax dollars.

Some South Bay residents have shared that their children’s education is still receiving less funding than other, more urban school districts. Local School board members and candidates have also voiced their concerns regarding the funding inequities toward our schools. Some parents have become so frustrated with the drastic cuts to education, that they have considered forming dependent charter schools within Torrance Unified. Other parents have opted for private education, but many families in this region do not have the resources to provide a private education for their children.

One parent in Palos Verdes complained that Proposition 30 was supposed to ensure that elementary school students on the Peninsula would not have to endure class sizes of thirty-eight or more students. Another parent frequently holds her school board accountable, despite the fearful recriminations of other parents.

What have you been doing on behalf of our students? What plans do you have to ensure that South Bay students do not lose out on more funding at the expense of other districts, where student achievement is still falling?

Constituents also have concerns about AB 1266, legislation which would permit students of a decided gender to enter school bathrooms. Voters are disturbed about the implications of this law, and deserve more information than they are currently receiving.

I thank you and your office for providing an educational forum on the Affordable Care Act. I now request that you and your office schedule a forum on the state and fate of public education (including SCROC and the community colleges) as soon as possible.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Arthur Christopher Schaper

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