City charter proposal met with skepticism by officials
A broad-based initiative to change the city’s charter that would force City Hall to give millions to local schools is gearing up for what could be a contentious election this fall.
Members of “Community for Excellent Public Schools,” also known as “CEPS,” has begun strategizing about how to win the November election, that is, if they can gather enough signatures to force the measure onto the ballot.
Earlier this month, CEPS co-chairs Louise Jaffee and Shari Davis, along with CEPS member Ralph Mechur, filed a proposal in City Hall to amend the Santa Monica charter.
“Community for Excellent Public Schools is dedicated to high quality education for every child,” Davis said. “To that end, CEPS is pursuing a means to establish and maintain long-term, stable, local funding for our public schools.”
But CEPS members would rather see the City Council come up with a long-term plan that will provide the school district with an ongoing source of funding every year. It’s an ultimatum of sorts — either establish a permanent funding source for the school district, or let voters decide how their tax dollars should be spent.
That’s how City Council members see it, anyway. When the proposal was filed, some elected officials felt the move was a threat, even though CEPS members have discussed the idea with them in the past.
Santa Monica City Council members have been looking for ways to provide ongoing, stable funding to education. School supporters hope the charter amendment will expedite what could otherwise be a long, drawn-out decision-making process.
“They’ve heard it and want to consider it,” said CEPS member Linda Gross, who helped form the group six years ago. “They could, in fact, talk forever.”
So far, there has been no discussion since the proposal was filed. It’s expected to be a topic of conversation at the City Council’s Jan. 27 meeting. Meanwhile, CEPS isn’t waiting around for officials to make a decision.
“We are very eager to see what happens,” Davis said, adding the group met this week to strategize over how to collect signatures for the ballot petition. “We’ll be gearing up soon.”
The measure would require the city to provide a minimum of $6 million in annual revenues to the school district, or about 4 percent of designated general funds, whichever is greater. Also, funding to the district would be modestly increased each year — but only when the city’s revenues grow by at least 3.5 percent.
Last year’s contribution to the district from City Hall was $5.25 million — its regular $3 million annual contribution, plus $2.25 million in one-time funds. City Hall also doled out one-time funds above and beyond its annual contribution in previous years, despite its own budget problems.
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District faced a $13 million budget shortfall last year, but was able to close the gap through personnel cuts, and new revenue sources such as the parcel tax, which will bring in $6.5 million annually over the next six years.
But it won’t be enough to keep the schools “excellent,” which is CEPS’ ultimate goal.
And with more than a $350 million annual budget, school supporters believe City Hall can afford to continue its financial commitment to the district. But they don’t want to have to ask every year, particularly because the school district has to provide a balanced budget to the county in March and the City Council doesn’t pass the city’s budget until July.
“The timing is off,” Gross said, adding that many people have told her that CEPS should have pushed through a charter amendment long ago.
“They said we waited too long and were too patient,” she said.
Davis said CEPS is putting a lot of energy into its strategy for what could be a long campaign. It has conducted extensive research, including public opinion polls via phone to gauge whether the community would support such a measure.
Schools Superintendent John Deasy said he hopes the City Council comes up with a plan to provide steady, predictable funding without the need for the charter amendment.
“The end is exactly what we need — sustained funding,” he added. “It would great, in my opinion, if we didn’t have to go to a ballot, but I don’t know how we are going to solve funding in education in California... I don’t particularly like going to the City Council every year.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 23, 2004. Read the original PDF.