I noticed you published the summary of the number of students and the budget for the SMMUSD along with your article on their budget problems in your 2-12-09 edition.
It is not often that the schools in California produce a report with both the number of students as well as their budget / expenses. The reason is clear when you do what any first year business student does to average the cost per “unit.” In this case, the “unit” is a student.
Rather than the “Per Pupil Spending” of $6,208, the per student spending is actually $10,696 when you divide the budget of $123.7 million by the 11,565 students. Maybe they are in need of remedial arithmetic at SMMUSD or rather it is not beneficial to their constant plea for more money when you consider how much money they have per student. SMMUSD is not unique in such spending. The Los Angeles School district is likewise in the teens when you divide the per student revenue. It is difficult for taxpayers and parents to rationalize any pleas of poverty when a classroom of 25 students is funded each year at over a quarter of a million dollars.
The other exercise that is eye opening is to divide the number of certified teachers on the district payroll into the number of students.
I would speculate that you would find a ratio that compares to many private schools. If the ratio is far out of reason to the number of students in each class, then just where are all these teachers if they are not in these classrooms?
Instead of only printing the facts as presented by the administrators, please put on you business hat and ask the business questions of this school district. Times are tough for all these days. A private school is often used as a benchmark of public schools. (“The education here is as good as a private school.”) If that is the benchmark, then address the funding issues as a private school would, just as a business would.
Doug Stewart