Taxpayers Need Local Oversight Of Their Local School Districts To Protect The Educational Interests Of Students And The Financial Interests of Taxpayers.

1. Taxpayers Need Local Oversight of the
Capistrano Unified School District
Local Oversight Is The Only Way To Protect
The Educational Interests Of Students, And
The Financial Interests Of Taxpayers
Presentation to the City of Aliso Viejo

3. A Continual Lack of Adequate Per Pupil Funding From the State Is Placing a
Growing Tax Burden on Local Municipalities – Other Bond Measures are already in
the works.

4. City Mayors learned about Measure M in July 2016
(4 months prior to the election) from constituents; not
in ad hoc meetings with CUSD. Most local municipalities
and elected officials do not closely follow their local
school board. They do not have the resources to pay
staff to attend meetings and report on school board
actions. Most importantly, CITIES, COUNTIES AND
LOCAL BUSINESSES LEARNED THAT THEY CANNOT
AFFORD TO ALLOW LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO
OPERATE WITHOUT STRICT OVERSIGHT IF THEY WANT
TO ENSURE A QUALITY EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS,
AND PROTECT TAXPAYERS FROM MUNICIPAL TAX
OVERBURDEN.

5. UNDERSTANDING CALIFORNIA'S NEW EDUCATION FUNDING
LAW "LOCAL CONTROL FUNDING FORMULA"
The "Base Grant" is universal for all students.
The "Supplemental Grant" provides additional funding to districts based on the percentage of students in the
district that are English Language Learners, Receiving Free and Reduced Lunch, and/or are in Foster Care.
The "Concentration Grant" provides even more funding for districts that have large concentrations of students
that are English Language Learners, Receiving Free and Reduced Lunch, and/or are in Foster Care.
The State set the Base Grant at $6,500 per student when it implemented the Local Control Funding Formula.
Districts with a low percentage of students who are English Language Learners, Receiving Free and Reduced Lunch,
or are in Foster Care are funded solely by the Base Grant.

6. LCFF Limits Per Pupil Funding to 2007-
08 levels + Inflation
• California's new education funding law; "Local Control Funding Formula", limits per pupil funding to 2007-
08 levels + inflation, not to be reached until 2021.
• By 2021, CUSD will have had flat funding for 14 years straight at less than $7,693.20 + inflation per pupil.
• CUSD is one of the most underfunded school districts in California; and the United States, receiving one
half of what the Laguna Beach Unified School District receives (just ten miles up the road).
Average per pupil funding United States: $11,009
Average per pupil funding in California: $9,595
Average Per Pupil Funding Laguna Beach: $15,823
Average per pupil funding CUSD: < $7,693.20 + inflation

7. THE STATE IS CHOOSING TO UNDERFUND
CERTAIN SCHOOL DISTRICTS
State Revenues Are At Record Highs
In 2007-08 State General Fund revenues were $103 billion; today they are $122 billion, an
increase of $19 billion.
In 2007-08 Total State revenues were $145 billion; today they are $171 billion, an increase of $26
billion.
The State has sufficient revenues to adequately fund every student in K-12 Public
Education but is Choosing not to.

9. The State Set the Base Funding Grant To Low
In December 2006 the State of California commissioned a study to determine the actual cost to educate a student in California in
2007-08. According to the study, the minimum cost was $8,932 per pupil. The study also showed that CUSD; a suburban school
district should be receiving between $10,726 and $12,077 per pupil to provide all students with a minimum education.
The State Set the Base Grant at $6,500 per pupil knowing that the minimum cost to educate any student in California was $8,932
per pupil..
Whether it is an unintended consequence, or by design, setting the Base Grant at $6,500
deprives EVERY STUDENT who lives in a District with a low percentage of students who are
English Language Learners, Receiving Free and Reduced Lunch, or are in Foster Care of the
minimum funding needed to ensure that every student has an equal opportunity to obtain a
minimum education, as mandated by the State Constitution and Equal Protection Clause of the
United States Constitution.

10. Some examples of local revenue streams:
• Fundraising for Art, Music, Science – those schools that cannot fundraise go
without Art, Music, or Science that aligns with minimum State Content
Standards and Curriculum Frameworks, and it taught by a properly
credentialed teacher. Relying on fundraising and donations to fund core
educational programs creates wealth based inequities within CUSD.
• ASB funded positions $200,000 - $300,000 per month at $10 per hour. How
is the increase in minimum wage going to effect funding these positions?
• Parking fees - CUSD generates over $500,000 per year in revenue.
• No on Measure M CUSD’s $889 million dollar School Facilities Bond could
have cost every property owner up to $600 per year for 25 – 35 years
CUSD lacks transparency and has already demonstrated that it was willing to hide an $889
million dollar bond from local agencies. CUSD has chosen to give employees 4 consecutive year
of across the board compensation increases totaling over $120 million, while refusing to spend
$10 million to fix every leaky roof and HVAC system in the District.
CUSD cannot be trusted to take care of students, or be a good steward of taxpayer
money.

11. Despite record high revenues, the State of California's 5-year Infrastructure Plan does
not allocate a single penny to K-12 Public Education. $51 billion of the $55 billion dollar
plan is allocated to Transportation aka "High Speed Rail". Because the State is CHOOSING
not to allocate funding for K-12 facilities, every school District in the State will be forced
to take on massive local debt to fund school facilities. That has already begun to happen
with the passage of 162 new Prop 39 Bonds in November 2016.
The State takes tax money that should be spent on education and uses “excess revenue
to start new programs and entitlements that are not constitutionally mandated.

12. Finding Solutions Starts with Knowledge
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
I created CUSDWatch (a paid subscription service) to provide local municipalities with a fast effective way to digest a 500
– 1000 page Board Agenda so that Cities could force CUSD to be more transparent in order to ensure that the educational
interest of students and the financial interest taxpayers will be represented in all matters before the Board.
The CUSDWatch subscription service will provide elected officials and other interested parties with the following:
• I will read the Board agenda when it is posted 72 hours prior to a meeting and provide an overview of the
upcoming meeting. I will flag items of interest to particular Cities or groups so that they may comment on the item
BEFORE the Board votes and post the preview on CUSDWatch.
• I will continue to attend board meetings; pull appropriate items, and speak on the record as an individual.
• After each Board meeting, when the board audio is posted, I will summarize the vote on each agenda item,
and mark the corresponding board audio so that items of particular interest can easily be found and listened to. The
review of each meeting will be posted on CUSDWatch.
• I will continue to publish articles online, and in the local Patch. I will send articles to the local press so that
the Public will be able to gain greater awareness of CUSD Board policies and actions.
• A sample of the December 14, 2016 CUSD Board meeting review is available for preview online at
CUSDWatch at the following link: http://cusdwatch.com/index.php/december-14-2016
The first Board Meeting is January 25, 2017. Subscription services will begin with the January 25, 2017 board meeting.
The subscription cost is $250.00 per meeting. There are about 20 regular board meetings, and 4 optional dates for special
meetings. One subscription will cover an entire City Council, City Manager and City attorney at an annual cost of
approximately $5,000.
I am requesting that that this Item be put on Aliso Viejo’s next Agenda for Board Approval.

13. School Board Agenda Items That Should be of Concern to the City of Aliso Viejo:
Paint contract at Wood Canyon Disposed of paint by
dumping it down the drain causing financial
damage. CUSD did not report Contractor to EPA.

14. CITIES MUST
FOLLOW SCHOOL
DISTRICT PLANNING
AND SPENDING TO
ENSURE THAT
RESIDENTS PAYING
THE TAX WILL
RECEIVE A BENEFIT.

15. ARE CITIES EXPOSED TO
LIABILITY WHEN CUSD
FAILES TO GET BOARD
APPROVAL FOR
CONTRACTS UNTIL AFTER
THE WORK HAS BEEN
COMPLETED.
WOOD CANYON
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IS
A SMALL SCHOOL AT RISK
FOR CLOSURE – CUSD is
spending a lot of money
to “rebrand” 7 schools

16. On Wednesday January 18, 2017
CUSD is having Conflict of Interest
Training at 6:00 pm
Also included is Asset
Management planning-
Cities may want to know what
plans CUSD has for land assets in
their township.
CUSD no longer records “special
board meetings” you would have
to attend to hear what is said.

17. In California, education is a fundamental right that
belongs to all — not some — of our students.
Depriving a student of their fundamental right to
achieve equality of educational opportunity; simply
because of where they happen to live, and
irrespective of their individual wealth, race or
ethnicity, constitutes invidious discrimination.
All students are entitled to the Equal Protection of our Laws.
The continued lack of adequate funding has resulted in a notable
decline in the academic performance of students across all
demographics. Our children are no longer receiving the minimum
education that the State is mandated to provide. Local municipalities
can not raise enough local taxes to meet the needs of students.