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COMMUNITY COMMENTARY:
‘Courageous conversations’ are the way to go
By Greg Krikorian
This year, the California School Board Assn.’s motto is “courageous conversations” for the sake of our children.
This is a sentiment with which I could not agree more, and I have continually advocated for increased communication between our school board and our City Council to better serve our community.
It was in that spirit that I chose to address the City Council on March 11 (“City, school board don’t agree on utilities,” March 15) standing before the dais, representing the voices of approximately 26,000 children to address a very serious issue affecting schools — our state’s budget crisis and the impact on our schools.
The lack of adequate funding for public education has had an adverse effect on our students, teachers, and community.
Our state ranks 46 out of 50 states in education funding; approximately $2,000 below the national average. To clarify the utility issue, in June of 2006, our district launched a districtwide energy conservation program with the help of Energy Education Inc. Their numbers indicate that if the district had not implemented the conservation program with the 21% increase in utilities, the cost to the district would have increased approximately $2 million.
As a result of the proposed state budget, the Glendale Unified School District Board of Education is faced with a budget shortfall of $8.7 million next year, and we are looking for creative ways to weather this storm, while protecting the quality of our instruction.The school board, administrators, teachers and classified staff members have all worked to control expenses, because, legally, school districts have little to no ability to generate revenues.This puts the students in our schools in a precarious position. In marked contrast, cities have multiple mechanisms to increase revenue.
Sources such as increased fees, the levying of taxes, fines and municipal taxes give cities greater flexibility to maintain services during difficult financial times.
Again, it was in the spirit of collaboration that I stood before the council on March 11 to request help with the rapidly increasing utility costs.
It appears that the mayor and some council members have misunderstood my intent.I was dismayed at the allegations levied at last week’s council meeting and the unnecessary personal attacks (“Najarian, Krikorian, are at odds,” Thursday).
As president of the Glendale Unified School District Board of Education, it is my responsibility to represent the interest of our schools, teachers and, most importantly, our children.
I would expect that our mayor would accept nothing less from a president of the board of education.
It is very unfortunate that our mayor has acted out in this fashion. However, rather than dwell on personal issues and attacks, I implore our mayor and City Council to move beyond personal attacks and politics and focus on solutions. It is my hope and goal we get beyond this and move forward as a community, working together for the betterment of our children.
The mayor has chosen to focus attention on the quality support our community and schools receives from police, fire and the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department.
As a school district, we humbly thank the city for these high-quality services.
Yet we believe that there may be opportunities for additional support. These are not meant to be outrageous or controversial ideas. Our school district supports many city-sponsored and nonprofit organizations at little or no cost. We are happy to work with these organizations because of the positive impact on our community.
We must find ways for our community and its leadership to truly collaborate, communicate and work together. I had the opportunity of serving on the school board for the past seven years, serving as president for two terms.
For the past 18 years, I have been the beneficiary of many of the wonderful programs created by our city, community organizations and our school district, such as the Kiwanis, Boy Scouts, Little League and American Youth Soccer Organization. I consider myself a proud citizen of Glendale.
GREG KRIKORIAN is a Glendale resident and president of the Glendale Unified School District Board of Education.
This is a sentiment with which I could not agree more, and I have continually advocated for increased communication between our school board and our City Council to better serve our community.
It was in that spirit that I chose to address the City Council on March 11 (“City, school board don’t agree on utilities,” March 15) standing before the dais, representing the voices of approximately 26,000 children to address a very serious issue affecting schools — our state’s budget crisis and the impact on our schools.
The lack of adequate funding for public education has had an adverse effect on our students, teachers, and community.
Our state ranks 46 out of 50 states in education funding; approximately $2,000 below the national average. To clarify the utility issue, in June of 2006, our district launched a districtwide energy conservation program with the help of Energy Education Inc. Their numbers indicate that if the district had not implemented the conservation program with the 21% increase in utilities, the cost to the district would have increased approximately $2 million.
As a result of the proposed state budget, the Glendale Unified School District Board of Education is faced with a budget shortfall of $8.7 million next year, and we are looking for creative ways to weather this storm, while protecting the quality of our instruction.The school board, administrators, teachers and classified staff members have all worked to control expenses, because, legally, school districts have little to no ability to generate revenues.This puts the students in our schools in a precarious position. In marked contrast, cities have multiple mechanisms to increase revenue.
Sources such as increased fees, the levying of taxes, fines and municipal taxes give cities greater flexibility to maintain services during difficult financial times.
Again, it was in the spirit of collaboration that I stood before the council on March 11 to request help with the rapidly increasing utility costs.
It appears that the mayor and some council members have misunderstood my intent.I was dismayed at the allegations levied at last week’s council meeting and the unnecessary personal attacks (“Najarian, Krikorian, are at odds,” Thursday).
As president of the Glendale Unified School District Board of Education, it is my responsibility to represent the interest of our schools, teachers and, most importantly, our children.
I would expect that our mayor would accept nothing less from a president of the board of education.
It is very unfortunate that our mayor has acted out in this fashion. However, rather than dwell on personal issues and attacks, I implore our mayor and City Council to move beyond personal attacks and politics and focus on solutions. It is my hope and goal we get beyond this and move forward as a community, working together for the betterment of our children.
The mayor has chosen to focus attention on the quality support our community and schools receives from police, fire and the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department.
As a school district, we humbly thank the city for these high-quality services.
Yet we believe that there may be opportunities for additional support. These are not meant to be outrageous or controversial ideas. Our school district supports many city-sponsored and nonprofit organizations at little or no cost. We are happy to work with these organizations because of the positive impact on our community.
We must find ways for our community and its leadership to truly collaborate, communicate and work together. I had the opportunity of serving on the school board for the past seven years, serving as president for two terms.
For the past 18 years, I have been the beneficiary of many of the wonderful programs created by our city, community organizations and our school district, such as the Kiwanis, Boy Scouts, Little League and American Youth Soccer Organization. I consider myself a proud citizen of Glendale.
GREG KRIKORIAN is a Glendale resident and president of the Glendale Unified School District Board of Education.
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