The Implications of District Budgetary Challenges for Local and State Policy

In this seminar, Pivot Learning will discuss two case studies aimed at better understanding the ways in which California districts’ budget challenges impact their ability to serve students. The cases explore this impact in two unique locations: the Sacramento City Unified School District and the Marin County Unified School District.

These reports find that, in Sacramento, increasing health care costs and poor business practices have led to deficit spending and cuts to programs and services. In Marin County, local parcel taxes have begun attracting more organized opposition due to increasing public perception that tax dollars will be used to fund pension liabilities, rather than being used to support students.

Arun Ramanathan, Carrie Hahnel, and Hannah Melnicoe will share findings from these case studies and discuss the implications for state and local policy and revenue generation for education. Panelists Liz Guillen, Michelle Giacomini, and Terena Mares will reflect on the findings from different perspectives.

Panelists include:

• Michelle Giacomini, Deputy Executive Officer, Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT)
• Liz Guillen, Of Counsel, Public Advocates
• Carrie Hahnel, Senior Director of Policy and Strategy, the Opportunity Institute
• Hannah Melnicoe, Senior Program Manager, Pivot Learning
• Arun Ramanathan, Chief Executive Office, Pivot Learning

Moderated by David N. Plank, Senior Advisor, PACE