Parents>How We Helped Stop Busing Elimination

Budget Crisis Eliminates Transportation
for Magnet Schools

• Important Links
• News Release from the PTA
• Frequently Asked Questions Regarding
• Transportation Elimination
• Transportation Elimination: What You Can Do

Important Links

Information from the District

Information from the PTA (.pdf)

News Releases from the PTA

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

More than 400 Parents, Teachers, Students Protest Elimination of Transportation for Dedicated Magnet Schools

San Diego – More than 200 parents, teachers, and students attended the Board of Education meeting Tuesday night to protest the elimination of transportation for dedicated magnet schools, while at least 200 more supporters congregated outside the Eugene Brucker Education Center Auditorium, which was filled to capacity.

During the public testimony period at the beginning of the meeting, seven representatives from the Language Academy community expressed their concern about the Board of Education’s proposal to cut transportation funding for all magnet programs. In approving this proposal on March 10, the Board of Education claimed that the school district would save $10.5 million.

However, a preliminary analysis by the Language Academy PTA shows that, while the elimination of busing for dedicated magnet schools may reduce the district’s transportation costs, this move may not decrease the overall educational costs to the district for students who currently are bused.

Using a single bus as an example, the preliminary analysis by Language Academy parliamentarian/historian Barbara Flannery indicated that it currently costs about $188,000 to educate the 27 students on Bus I who come to Language Academy from the areas of Normal Heights, Hillcrest, and Mission Hills. This figure includes the cost of transportation. If those same 27 students walked to their neighborhood schools, instead of being bused to the Language Academy, the school district would pay more than $204,000 in their educational costs.

After the public testimony period at the board meeting, members of the Language Academy community rallied for 30 minutes on the lawn at 4100 Normal Street, waving bus-yellow flyers and chanting “bring our buses back.” The Language Academy PTA calls on the Board of Education to restore transportation funding for all dedicated magnet schools.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

More than 150 Parents, Teachers, Students Protest Elimination of Transportation for Dedicated Magnet Schools

Contact: Bey-Ling Sha
PTA President, Language Academy
beyling_sha@yahoo.com

San Diego – More than 150 parents, teachers, and students protested last night the elimination of transportation for dedicated magnet schools. Organized by the Language Academy Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), the meeting encouraged everyone to contact the SD Unified School District Board of Education, to ask the Board members to restore funding to transportation for dedicated magnets.

In budget cuts announced last week, the Board of Education cut transportation funding for all magnet programs, claiming that this would save the district $10.5 million. But, the magnet programs use only 262 buses, suggesting that the Board of Education’s estimate of the savings from this budget cut is inaccurate.

Furthermore, of the 262 buses used by all magnet programs, only 96 buses are used by “dedicated magnets,” meaning schools that are 100 percent magnet, with no students attending simply because they live in the local neighborhood. There are six dedicated magnet schools in the district, including Language Academy, a unique K-8 school committed to preparing students for a multilingual, multicultural world.

Language Academy is the only dual-language Spanish magnet in the SD Unified School District, meaning that children learn both English and Spanish, starting in kindergarten. Language Academy is also the only public French language immersion school in the entire state of California. The school has 812 students, of which 57 percent take the bus. Students are bused from all over the county, making the student population racially and economically diverse, which facilitates the school’s mission to prepare students for a global society. Losing 57 percent of its students due to lack of transportation will threaten the educational mission of the Language Academy, as well as its very viability.

Transportation for dedicated magnet schools is an issue of equal access to public education and an issue of social justice. The Language Academy PTA calls on the Board of Education to restore transportation funding for all dedicated magnet schools.

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Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Transportation Elimination

Question: What is the issue?

Answer: The Board of Education voted on March 10 for a long list of budget cuts, in anticipation of state budget cuts for the 2009-2010 school year. Among those cuts is $10.5 million that pay for transportation to magnet programs.

Question: How did this budget decision get made?

Answer: No one knows for sure. But, an online survey about what items to cut was done by the school district prior to announcing the budget cuts. But the problem is that the school district’s online survey was not representative of the parent and student population in the school district, and it did not reflect families who use magnet programs. People who don’t have computer access were not able to participate in the online survey. And other people could have completed the survey more than once. All this affects the survey results.

Question: How does eliminating transportation affect Language Academy, a “dedicated magnet”?

Answer: All schools with magnet programs are affected. Furthermore, Language Academy is one of 6 dedicated magnets in the district. “Dedicated magnet” means that 100% of our school is in the magnet program; 0% of our school is students who attend simply because they live in the neighborhood. If we lose the students who take the bus, there will be no one to take their place.

Question: How many Language Academy students take the bus and where are they bused from?

Answer: Language Academy has 812 students, of which 57% take the bus. This means that the budget cut will affect 463 students. Our students are bused from all over the county (See Map).

Question: My kids don’t take the bus. Why should I care about this?

Answer: You should care because your children will lose many of their friends if more than half our students can no longer attend our school. You should care because having fewer students means getting fewer teachers; losing students means that teacher positions will be cut. Having far fewer students also makes our school vulnerable to being completely closed down. Why should the district pay for administration, water, electricity, etc., to keep open a school that is only half full? The bottom line: Losing transportation is the first step to losing Language Academy, period.

Question: How does busing help our school or my child specifically?

Answer: Providing transportation makes our school more diverse, racially and economically. Busing students in from all around the district means that, in the Language Academy classroom and on the playground, your child is learning to interact with people who are different from himself or herself. This ability to interact with diverse people will be a huge bonus in your child’s adult life, both personally and professionally.

Question: If my child can no longer attend Language Academy because there will be no busing, what are my school options?

Answer: You can drive your child to Language Academy next year, or your child can attend your neighborhood school. This may be particularly challenging for middle school students, because most middle schools are already overcrowded. Also, the deadline for the district’s school choice program has passed, so it’s too late to request another non-neighborhood school for your child. Although parents can enroll their child in their neighborhood up to the first day of school, last-minute enrollment impacts the receiving school’s classroom make-up, staffing, and budget.

Question: What I can do about this issue?

Answer: The PTA recommends a five-point action plan:

(1) write/email the Board of Education (See List of People to Contact);

(2) write/email your representatives to the California state legislature (See List of People to Contact);

(3) attend the March 24 Board of Education meeting at 4:30 p.m. at Eugene Brucker Education Center Auditorium, located at 4100 Normal Street, San Diego, 92103;

(4) wear your Language Academy t-shirt to the board meeting; and

(5) invite your child’s teacher and bus driver to the board meeting.

Question: Who can I contact about getting transportation restored to Language Academy?

Answer: There are two problems – (1) decisions about where to make budget cuts and (2) the budget itself. To express concern about the budget decision to cut transportation to our school, please contact the district Board of Education and/or your Board representative. To express concern about the overall budget for education, please contact your state representatives. The PTA has lists of all these individuals and their contact information.

Question: What should I say in my email or letter, and how should I say it?

Answer: You should say that you want transportation restored to the Language Academy. You should discuss how losing transportation will affect your child and your family. Use the facts, not just emotion. Make the letter personal to your family situation, not generic. The PTA has a list of message points; if you would like to use some of them, feel free to do so.

Question: Who in the Language Academy PTA can I contact for more information?

Answer: Contact PTA President, Bey-Ling Sha, at beyling_sha@yahoo.com.

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Transportation Elimination: What You Can Do

• Write and email the Board of Education (see contact information), and ask them not to cut our buses. Fifty-seven percent (57%) of students at Language Academy take the bus. Without transportation, these students will no longer be able to attend our school, and our school may have to close down due to lack of attendance. You can write your letters in Spanish or English or French. Have your children write letters, too. 
  
  
• Write your California State Senator and your California State Assembly Member, and ask them to budget more money for public education (see contact information).
• Attend the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, March 24. The meeting will be held at the Eugene Brucker Education Center Auditorium, located at 4100 Normal Street, San Diego, 92103. Overflow parking is available at The Fellowship of San Diego Church at 4353 Park Boulevard. The church is located opposite Birney Elementary on the east side of Park Boulevard, between Meade Avenue and El Cajon Boulevard.  
  
  This meeting is important, to show the Board of Education that we want our buses back for next year. Please arrive by 4:30 p.m. so that we can make sure to have seats at the meeting. When the seats are full, the meeting is closed to those without seats. The meeting begins at 5 p.m.
  

• At the meeting, please wear your Language Academy t-shirt, if you have one. If you do not have one, please wear jeans and a dark blue t-shirt. To buy a t-shirt, contact Tammy Ezquerro at tezquerro@sbcglobal.net.
  
  
• Get your child’s teachers and bus drivers. Invite them to join us at the Board of Education meeting on March 24. Their jobs are at stake.
  
  
• Ask your family members and friends to join us at the meeting on March 24. We need a strong showing at the meeting

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