Schools Must Get Their Money Back

It is shameful that we are forced to rally and implore our Board of Supervisors to return 100% of the money our schools were required to deposit in the county fund.

Parents in this community work hard, along with our teachers and administrators, to provide a quality education for our children. It has become more of an uphill battle as money has become more scarce. And now we have the county bankruptcy to deal with.

In Kobe, Japan, some schools reopened just one week after the deadly earthquake hit, illustrating the high priority Japan places on public education. Here, in one of the wealthiest counties in the country, the supervisors show a total lack of commitment to our children and their education.

You want our children to be able to compete with those from other countries like Japan? Then it is time to tell our leadership to give public education here that same high priority. And the Board of Supervisors can start by refunding 100% of the money our schools were required to deposit with them immediately!

SUZIE SWARTZ

Mission Viejo

* The Fountain Valley School District has seen many of its programs go by the wayside during years of budget crunching. It has conservatively managed its resources, adjusted employee salaries by a meager 1.35% over five years, maintained a cap on employee health insurance benefits at just $3,823, lowest in the county, and has continued its efforts at seeking alternative sources of revenue. The district’s first interim report in November projected a $2.1-million ending balance. Was it possible that after such a long dry spell, the district might be able to actually reinstate lost programs, begin reinvesting into aging facilities and provide its employees with a much-deserved raise?

This glimmering light was extinguished rather abruptly on Dec. 6, 1994. The Fountain Valley School District now must turn away from any thoughts of growth and instead look at serious reductions to balance its budget. This is simply not right!

Recently, three supervisors have stepped forward to sponsor a plan that would reinstate schools at 100% of their lost funds. I applaud this act and encourage the county to first make whole those agencies who are truly the innocent victims. I acknowledge the desperate fiscal situation that now exists with the county. However, before it begins to dig out of the hole it created for itself, it must first both morally and legally care for those brought down in its wake.

As the Fountain Valley School District builds its budget for next year, the board, staff, parents, community and students will all be looking at the budget scenarios. Will the district need to cut to the bone in order to survive? Will its careful planning be for naught? Let us hope that our leaders serve as examples and right what is not right!

MARC ECKER

Assistant Superintendent,

Business Administration

Fountain Valley School District

* How can I teach my child to be “personally responsible for her actions,” when the self-anointed “educrats” try to avoid the consequences of THEIRS?

Somebody made the decision to let Robert L. Citron gamble with the schools’ money, then made additional decisions to borrow even more to gamble with.

Those people, whoever they are, should take the hit for this catastrophe and not expect to be exempted from the reality of the situation.

DON HULL

Costa Mesa