I had to pull my child from public school this year as the public school is no longer teaching advanced math.

http://www.peopleforstudentrights.com/index.php/lcap/lcap-goal-3/measurable-outcome-1

I want my child to attend a 4- year selective University and twice the public school has tried to hold her back. She is now in private school – 2 years ahead of her peers who were all on the same path. Despite all the buzz words= “STEM education” math is saying in my district. Capistrano Unified – perceived to be one of the wealthiest districts in the State and the nation.

see: http://www.peopleforstudentrights.com/index.php/complaint/count-13

The powers in charge now are happy to deprive all students irrespective of their individual wealth, race and ethnicity of even a basic education simply because they live in what is perceived to be a wealthy school district.

http://www.peopleforstudentrights.com/index.php/complaint/count-7

we have students that get no art music or science unless parents can fundraise for them… state mandated minimum core curriculum.

http://www.slideshare.net/DawnUrbanek/fundraising-for-core-educational-programs

If there is a real lawyer that would like to help- I will accept. If I am successful every taxpayer in the state will benefit. The government uses K-12 public education to raise new tax revenues and then spends it on everything but K-12. If the state is forced to spend money within constitutional guidelines then there would not be money for other things like high speed rail without going to the people. This could actually change California politics and our budget problems.

Please spread the word.

Your complaint is excellent. It looked a little like a non-lawyer based on certain things, but the overall substance was excellent. For a non lawyer you did a great job.

92% of our district funds go to employee compensation and that is after we did early retirement.

If there are any attorneys that practice in Federal Court I would sure like some help filing a complaint in Federal Court to challenge the constitutionality of the State’s new funding law. The complaint is done. The new law is not designed to educate students – it is designed to redistribute wealth. Any takers can contact me at info@peopleforstudentrights. Our District even fundraises for teachers salaries and benefits. Fundraising for education- another California tax

Your $8,317 per student funding in your district is appalling, considering that the CA STATE average is $10,744 (2013). You’re right — the state channels more money to poor districts. Not clear why these districts rate more funding (aside from the obvious fact that this is a Democrat run state).

A biggest absorber of our funds is the districts’ salaries and pensions, leaving us insufficient amount to hire more teachers. CA teachers are the 3rd highest paid in the nation.
http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/NEA_Rankings_And_Estimates-2015-03-11a.pdf

I stand largely corrected, Dawn! Thanks for the feedback.

Our total revenues are $402 million enrollment is 48,333 = $8,317 per pupil.
http://capousd.ca.schoolloop.com/file/1229223560406/1218998864154/1095880305525509113.pdf

California’s new education funding law intentionally underfunds wealthy suburban school districts. The State has set the base funding grant so low that our students do not receive even the minimum state mandated core curriculum unless parents fundraise to pay for art music science. If you want that explained in detail go to: http://peopleforstudentrights.com/index.php/complaint/claim-1

It really is invidious discrimination and no one cares because we live in a wealthy area.

Valid points, Dawn, but don’t use the union-preferred ADA figure ($7,500, in your example) as your benchmark for how much we spend per student. Take the districts TOTAL budget, and divide it by the number of students. You’ll find the total cost per student probably closer to $11,000, and that’s likely understated because of off-budget expenditures.

Moreover, such figures don’t count the per student cost of the redundant county board of education and the state education bureaucracy. And then there’s the federal Department of Education.

Vouchers are a far better option for students. As it is, public school districts’ primary function is to provide high pay and generous benefits to as many public employees as possible.

contracts that are entered into illegally are not enforceable. I can prove that the last three employment contracts that my district entered into were not done in accordance with the law. My District has cut core educational programs in order to use that money for outrageous compensation increases for all employees in violation of the US Constitution- the State Constitution – 7 Ed Code Sections – 2 CUSD BOT Bylaws and 16 BOT Policies. What I recommend is forcing the Public Employee Unions to honor their illegal pensions not the taxpayer. I am presenting this to the Capistrano Unified Board of Trustees on January 27, 2016 – Hard to do in 3 minutes – but I am very close. The slide presentation can be viewed at the following link. http://peopleforstudentrights.com/index.php/visual-and-performing-arts-slide-presentation-to-the-board-january-27-2016