Our school board candidates need to be able to comment on the school ratings “dashboard” – in fact, whether or not your district rep is up, these are some questions you should be asking

Sheesh, I hate election districts – for a town this size, it’s literally divisive. Here’s the thing – all seven members of Chico City Council are allowed to make decisions on what happens in my district, so why am I only allowed to vote for one of them? The folks who threatened to sue said districts would prevent discrimination? You mean, it’s easier for a person to get elected, qualified or not, when there’s only about 5,000 votes at stake? In a town of over 100,000 persons who are directly affected by the actions of council, a candidate can get into office with less than 3,000 votes. That’s not representation, it’s a popularity contest.

Same goes for Chico Area Recreation District and Chico Unified Schools. I had neither on my ballot this election, so I don’t get to choose who has got their hand in my purse. But if you are voting for a school district rep this election, and you still have your ballot, here’s something you should take a look at. According to Dan Walters, California schools are not being evaluated on student performance. “Academic performance should have been the main focus of the California School Dashboard, but it is just one of its ‘multiple measures,’ thus allowing schools with sub-par test results to boast of high ratings due to their ancillary scores.”

And the chickens that hatched out of that little song and dance have come home to roost. Chico Unified scores have come down markedly since 2013, really exacerbated by the COVID school shut-down ordered by our school board. Here’s a Ballotpedia report about academic performance at CUSD and enrollment. SCROLL DOWN PAST THE CANDIDATE INFORMATION

https://ballotpedia.org/Chico_Unified_School_District,_California,_elections

See that? In 2013 68% of students in CUSD were performing “at or above proficiency level” That’s almost acceptable. And then down to 40% in 2020-21? Again, the school board made that decision to close the schools and then they made a decision to divvy up over $2 million in COVID emergency funding among themselves in the form of bonuses. Here’s the obvious question – bonuses for what? They weren’t coming to work. Parents were forced to find daycare, like NOW! And daycare isn’t school, so kids immediately started to slip behind in their functional skills.

So, whether or not you have a candidate for school board on your ballot, our school board needs to answer some questions – first being, how is that new bond going to accomplish anything? They got a $335 MILLION bond in 2020, where’d that go? To salary increases, look at these salaries.

https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/school-districts/butte/chico-unified/

Take a look at your superintendent’s salary – up over $20,000 in just two years, a $30,000 increase in total compensation for a grand total of $339,866/year. This woman was hired by school board members, her raises have been approved by school board members, and school board members have sat silently while academic performance in the district under her tenure has dropped a remarkable 28%.

Here’s something else that was pointed out to me and city council by a consultant named Chad Wolford – the school district is “management top-heavy” – look at all those management and assistant and deputy, etc – those people do nothing to raise your child’s test scores, they just add to the expense of education. Most of them work for THE TEACHERS, ensuring they get their salary increases and their benefits.

So, whether you’re voting or not, you pay for this crap. Ask some questions.

And don’t let the election screw your Halloween – have a scary day, do something fun, watch a scary movie, eat some popcorn, go trick-or-treating, don’t let this day pass without notice.