Santa Monica schools rank at ‘top of the bottom’
(Editor’s note: This is the third article in an ongoing series about the public school system throughout the state and in Santa Monica).
DISTRICT HDQTRS. — While a recent report shows that California’s public school system is the 48th worst in the nation, local schools have been able to stay a cut above the rest, officials say.
But it’s all relative, said John Deasy, superintendent of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.
“We are at the top of the bottom of the barrel,” he said, adding the local school district is considered highly achieving when compared to the rest of the nation and the state. “Our overall results in California are only better than Louisiana and Mississippi. That’s pathetic.”
“Our overall results in California are only better than Louisiana and Mississippi. That’s pathetic.” — — JOHN DEASY Superintendent of schools
Last week, Deasy responded to a recently released report by the RAND Corp. that shows California’s public school system lags behind most of the nation on almost every objective measurement of student achievement, funding, teacher qualifications and school facilities.
Deasy said he wasn’t surprised by the findings and characterized the widely-anticipated report as “a depressing wake-up call.”
And that is exactly how the RAND report describes the state of the California public school system — disastrous. The study chronicles how the state’s K-12 school system has fallen from a national leader 30 years ago to its current ranking near the bottom in nearly every objective category. RAND researchers examined the status of K-12 education in California across several broad measures, including student academic achievement, teacher qualifications, school facilities and noneducational benchmarks such as teenage pregnancy rates.
The report found that California has the second highest ratio of students-per-teacher in the nation and student achievement on national standardized tests is near the bottom of the 50 states, topping only Louisiana and Mississippi.
While California’s annual per-student spending was about $400 above the national average in 1969-70, it fell to more than $600 below the national average in 1999-2000, according to the report.
“If we had the national average, that would mean $7 million a year for Santa Monica,” Deasy said. “That would pay for 100 teachers... That’s not little money.”
The report also shows that California school districts’ teacher standards are generally lower than in other states. And the real average annual teacher salary in California during the 2000-2001 school year was about the same as it was in 1969- 70, when adjusted for inflation. The situation is only expected to get worse. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week proposed $2.8 billion in cuts to education, an idea that has shocked and infuriated educators.
“People have stopped counting on the state and further evidence of that is the state of the state address,” Deasy said, adding the cuts would mean millions of dollars for Santa Monica and Malibu schools, which have already endured state funding cuts in recent years. “It’s a cumulative effect.”
Despite the negative RAND report, SMMUSD finds itself in a better position than most districts in the state. That’s largely because the community and city government have invested in local education to make up for where the state has failed. The SMMUSD has faced multimillion dollar shortfalls in recent years, largely due to state funding cutbacks. The community responded by raising its own money and tapping into City Hall for millions of dollars in local taxpayer money.
The result is that the SMMUSD has been able to pass a balanced budget with minimal cuts to staff, teachers and programs. The district also has seen increasing student achievement test scores and reinstituted crucial programs like music and athletics, Deasy said. “(Santa Monica and Malibu have) chosen to be different,” he said. “We have used the only means available to supplement what the state has taken away.”
Deasy pointed to five factors that have been key to SMMUSD’s success in maintaining a quality education in Santa Monica and Malibu.
SECURITY PARCEL BY PARCEL Even though California has strict limitations on tax-based funding for education, the SMMUSD has successfully secured two parcel taxes which generate millions of dollars annually for local schools. Measure S generates about $6 million a year and Measure Y brings in about $3 million annually.
“We’ve chosen to ask for two (parcel taxes) and the community has chosen it,” Deasy said. “It has provided stability and modest advance.”
The money generated is not used on facilities, but rather on bringing back positions that were cut over the past 20 years — namely science and physical education teachers, psychologists, nurses, guidance counselors and librarians.
“We have systemically and systematically underfunded our schools while they have grown rapidly and the demographics have changed. It’s a classic recipe for disaster.” — he said
“Absent this, it would be a catastrophic cut in services.”
“What surprised me is how few people have understood what’s happened to their public schools,”
CITY HALL COMES THROUGH The Santa Monica City Council has shown its commitment to local schools by giving them millions of dollars every year, as well as partnering with the SMMUSD in joint use agreements. An example of that partnership is City Hall and the school district operate facilities and parks together.
Deasy characterized the relationship as a “life saver and “critical” to the success of the SMMUSD.
“It’s very unique in the state of California... I don’t know of another district that operates that way,” he said.
City Hall recently agreed to increase its annual contribution to the SMMUSD to at least $6 million. In years prior, it has given only $2.5 million a year. That’s in addition to millions of dollars more in in-kind services and one-time funds.
“The city of Santa Monica has recognized that its quality of life is intimately connected with its quality of schools,” Deasy said, adding City Hall’s support helps the district have an orchestra.
COMMUNITY BUCKS UP The SMMUSD in recent years has been able to upgrade and maintain its facilities with two citizen-approved bonds, which has allowed local students to learn in state-of-the-art buildings, Deasy said. He added that a recently completed, multi-million dollar, world-class theater at Santa Monica High School was made possible by voters.
“The community has consistently supported the infrastructure,” Deasy said. “It’s pretty astonishing what we’ve done and what the community has done... there is not a shred of space that isn’t used 24/7.”
Deasy said it’s astonishing because many cities that are as affluent as Santa Monica don’t spend their money on local education, and Santa Monica has fewer school-aged children than some of those cities.
“Santa Monica is much more unique in community support for their schools,” he said. “It’s a very unique synergy.”
Tens of millions of dollars also is raised independently within the community. The amount of money raised for individual schools by PTAs far surpasses most districts throughout the country. There also is a constant stream of “shadow donors” who contribute to the SMMUSD. Deasy estimates contributions by individual donors to be about $225,000 a year.
“Individual contributions have dramatically changed in the past four years and, simultaneously, the state has collapsed,” Deasy said.
For more than two decades, a nonprofit organization called the Education Foundation has raised millions of dollars for the SMMUSD. The foundation is focused on achievement, and dedicated to preserving, supporting and enhancing a comprehensive range of programs in all 16 schools in Santa Monica and Malibu.
For The Arts, a campaign of the Education Foundation, has a goal to build a $15 million endowment to support dance, visual arts, music and drama in local schools. Since its inception more than two years ago, it has raised nearly $2 million.
In the past five years, the Education Foundation has raised more than $1 million for an endowment to support literacy. And every year, the foundation raises about $100,000 to support programs like arts, science, technology and sports, as well as to enhance existing curricula.
THE CREAM OF THE CROP The SMMUSD for the past several years has strategically spent more money on hiring skilled teachers and administrators, Deasy said.
“Good teachers equal good results,” he said, adding the district not only pays them more, but offers them continuing education. “We hire faculty with more experience and have fewer administrators, but we pay more for them.”
Deasy also points to what he calls an “extremely well-trained” classified workforce that has banded together and is doing more with less. About $5 million in classified positions have been cut in the past five years within the SMMUSD.
“This whole workforce really works together and it creates a better environment for children,” he said.
A DISMAL OUTLOOK Despite that the communities of Santa Monica and Malibu have taken matters into their own hands when it comes to ensuring quality education, much of what is outlined in the RAND report still holds true for local schools, particularly student-to-teacher ratios. The SMMUSD is slightly higher than the national average of 16.1 students to one teacher. Deasy said the only way to change the dismal picture is to place higher demands on teacher performance, increase state funding and educate the public on how low the California government places education on its priority list.
“We can choose to spend more money on schools, 49 other states have chosen differently,” he said, adding his team plans on circulating the RAND report “high and thin” throughout the community. “This should be in the hands of every legislator in Sacramento. It should be in the hands of every lobbyist in the state, and it should be on the fridge of every parent.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 10, 2005. Read the original PDF.