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Dear blog readers,
For all of you who have sent email and written comments over this past few days and have been wondering why they apparently went unanswered and unposted, here's what's been going on: It appears that the blog was the target of a hacking attempt or some other kind of attack designed to prevent us from logging in to view comments and post new entries. It's taken us a few days and some consultation with bloggers more savvy than ourselves to get the problem corrected and to be able to log in again. Unfortunately this caused a delay in our ability to read comments and email. Again, our apologies. The good news is that all is normal again and we've had some great help and instruction in getting there.
Does this mean that we're making somebody mad? Could be.
But as usual, what initially seems to be a setback turns out to be a good surprise. When we put the word out that we needed some help figuring out how to recover from this trouble we had a few excellent offers of help from really talented people who have students in the district, and some of whom run their own blogs. So a big 'thank you' to you all for lending us your expertise. Without you we would probably still be wondering what was going on with Google and Blogger.
That's it - Just wanted the people who have been emailing and commenting with no replies or comment moderation to know what's been the cause of the delay.
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Parents and Taxpayers of Olivenhain, Encinitas and Leucadia; PLEASE READ THIS!
ReplyDeleteSunana Batra from the North County Times
Before Encinitas Union School District trustees consider on June 29 whether to place a 30-year, $44 million bond measure on the November ballot, taxpayers must require the list of "specific needs" and "precise costs" for this loan that the district is asking taxpayers to bankroll.
After viewing how the board and superintendent operate June 1, I am sounding the alarm to fellow Encinitas residents: These folks have a completely half-baked plan to continue reaping taxes from us and throwing that money at projects without determining the district’s true needs.
Like other districts, Encinitas is dead-broke with a $5.9 million budget deficit. That's for all sorts of reasons such as massive and growing pension and health care commitments, not to mention overspending such as the nearly $2 million in new phone systems and computers that the board authorized in April.
But wait, it's OK because in the middle of a terrible recession, "the proposal is a tax extension, not a tax increase."
Oh, so the roughly $200 per month many residents pay in property taxes will go away in 2014, but the trustees want to convince me they need to extend this tax 30 more years for a shopping list they haven't even written yet? What could possibly go wrong?
Armed with a $7,000 feasibility study aimed at showing overwhelming support for the bond measure, 4 out of 5 trustees will likely begin bellyaching about how some schools are "over 30 years old" and hope residents will plug their noses and allow the district to rifle through their pockets.
But even if you squint just right at solar panels on every school, community gardens or "private," fee-based preschools, none will be the robust revenue stream supporters will paint them to be. These plans have limited shelf life as well as a longer, subsequent period of buyer's remorse.
But "Where's the money going?" and "Where has the last $30 million gone?" are questions that must be answered. Why is the board voting on this just 10 days after summer vacation starts? Is it by design; less people to object or ask questions? Coastal residents love voting for feel-good bond measures without any thought of the financial implications.
Make the process fully transparent, so everyone knows what's going on before EUSD votes on spending more than $110,000 just to cover the consultant who'll prepare this for the ballot and then another boatload in literature to get it passed.
Government has a knack for taking on business plans that private investors wouldn't touch. It's just so easy to gamble with someone else's money. At a time when housing prices and state coffers are in full collapse, EUSD couldn't have picked a worst time.
Perhaps they've heeded the advice that government should "act more like a business." That's great, but "Trust me, you'll like it" just doesn't cut it.
SUNANA BATRA writes from Encinitas. Contact her at sunanabatra@gmail.com.
NOTE: Cardiff has their own school district and will not be taxed for the next 30 years.
Parents cannot depend on the two regional daily newspaper reporters to be investigative reporters.
ReplyDeleteThese 'Education' reporters are prisoners-in-disguise; if they write anything that the trustees of these districts find objectionable, they are then excommunicated from the district and will not have their inquiries answered by the district offices even though the districts are legally required to do so.
This is 'how' EUSD got into the mess it is in, in the first place. No accountability. Zero.
Only parents/voters can set this district straight; and the Trustees are counting on parents to not show up on June 29th, 2010 at the district office, or to educate themselves on 'how' to make this group of Trustees accountable. It has worked so far.
The district Trustees have already found a retired principal from EUSD to run in the EUSD Trustee's race this Fall; 'why' would a retired principal run for a seat? Increasing pension points of course. They'll say its all about the kids, but its really all about power and money and prestige.
The Superintendent for the elementary school district who just 'retired' (perhaps because he couldn't get the Pacific View school site rezoned and sold at a higher price to developers?), is likely running for an open-seat in the high school district on their Board of Trustees.
Political collusion between boards of local trustees?
See how insidious this can become? Trustees working with Trustees from other local districts to keep their parents/taxpayers from finding out 'how' they are operating and 'where' the money is really going.
Remember; the Trustees are elected to be the parents/taxpayer's representative, then they are responsible for hiring professionals to teach your children.
Trustee control of the press is paramount to EUSD.
EUSD cannot allow true inspection of their operations.
Example: The EUSD's district representative/trustee on one of the disabled regional steering committees hasn't attended in several years; yet 'reports' in public meetings about having attended the meetings all the time.
Check out the sign-in sheets.
Is there extra compensation to Trustees for attendance of these types of regional meetings? Better not be in this case; but 'how' can we ever know?
Other districts laugh at the EUSD Trustees and wonder just 'when' they will be held accountable?
The reporters know these kinds of things, but if they report them, then they are exiled from doing their paid job.
Watch for info identifying candidates for local trusteeship for local school boards on the November 2010 ballots; otherwise, the fix IS in.
And you miss your opportunity to make these Trustees publicly accountable.
what happened at the EEF meeting?
ReplyDelete