Author Archives: admin

Fallout from the National Financial Crisis

Some school years we experience State fiscal crises, some school years we experience national fiscal crises. And then there are years like 2008-2009 when we get to experience both. It looks like the Wall Street meltdown will hit our District … Continue reading

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Parcel Tax Authorized for November Ballot

Last Monday, the Board voted unanimously to place a parcel tax on the November 2008 ballot. The measure would enhance and extend Measure D, the parcel tax previously approved by voters in June, 2003. The amount of the assessment would … Continue reading

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Throw the Rascals Out!

Last Thursday’s public comment period had a number of interesting moments while teachers were chastising us for not putting a bigger compensation proposal on the table. But there was one moment that stood out in my mind as surreal. Which … Continue reading

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Who Do Trustees Represent?

Last Thursday on my way into the Board meeting I had a brand new experience: crossing a picket line. There were a good number of District teachers outside the building protesting and picketing the District’s failure to put forward an … Continue reading

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Minor Correction

I just tweaked the posting on “How Does the District’s Contract Compare?”. Turns out that, while some districts have columns in their salary schedules for teachers without credentials, San Carlos doesn’t. To keep things clean, I re-did my analysis and … Continue reading

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How Does the District’s Contract Compare?

Steve Mitrovich has published an article which, among other things, touches on how the District’s salary schedule stacks up against other San Mateo County districts. I thought it might be interesting to explore that idea a little further, so I … Continue reading

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The Un-COLA*

* with apologies to 7-Up, and whoever owns the relevant intellectual property. There’s been a lot of talk lately about teacher compensation and cost of living adjustments (COLAs). I’d like to clarify a few misconceptions. When most people here the … Continue reading

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Those Pesky Gophers

I was pleased to learn last night that the District’s maintenance team is assessing the condition of Heather’s field. That’s important for figuring out what kind of maintenance the District should do now that the City is going to let … Continue reading

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Rabbits and Hats

We spent some time last night discussing the Governor’s latest budget proposal and how it will play into the Legislature’s budget process. The Governor is planning on borrowing against an “enhanced” State lottery and, if that fails, increasing the State’s … Continue reading

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Negotiations Update

There’s a good article on the District website about how teacher compensation in the District compares to neighboring communities, and about what the District’s financial situation looks like. It’s a PDF file, and you can find it here.

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