Dollars don't add up - Falling enrollments, rising health-care costs squeeze district's budget

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 6/1/6 | Heather Knight

[SmithL]

Life in the San Francisco Unified School District often seems to lurch from one financial crisis to another: Lay-offs. Program cuts. School closures. Frantic contract negotiations nearly ending in strikes.

But according to new figures provided by the U.S. Census, San Francisco public schools are rolling in money compared to other districts around the state and even the nation. They spend more per student than the vast majority of other large districts in California and even most of the big districts around the country.

So why all the hand-wringing about money?

At the same time the school district faces declining student enrollment and the resulting loss of state money, it is seeing its worker health-care costs skyrocket. It's a math equation even an elementary school student could see doesn't leave a lot left over for classroom use.

The district, which enrolls 57,675 students in its regular kindergarten to 12th-grade classes and its county programs, employs 6,000 teachers and aides, 1,200 service workers and 214 administrators.

For every dollar it currently spends on day-to-day operating expenses, 47 cents go to teacher and administrator salaries, 21 cents go to employee benefits and 11 cents go to pay non-teaching employees. Twenty cents pay for a variety of other expenses, such as utilities and professional training.

Just one penny goes to books and supplies.

[Tzimisce]

Ha ha! Socialism still doesn't work! :P

[goldstategop]

The unions' plundering of taxpayer dollars for their members' benefit has shortchanged the kids. As usual nothing will be done to address it.

(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")

[Carry_Okie]

Classified employees -- those without education credentials, such as custodians and cafeteria workers -- are another story. They have to work only five years in San Francisco Unified at any point in their career to earn lifetime health benefits.

In what other industry could a 23 year-old person having worked as a janitor for only five yearsget a benefit with a lifetime present value of at least a half million dollars?

Karen Bishop, president of the school district chapter for Service Employees International Union 790, said it's unfair to blame district financial problems on service employees.

"They should look at other places where they may not be wisely spending money," she said. "We think that's a benefit we deserve."

LMAO.

[Nathan Zachary]

Interesting how they break this down. They list teachers saleries, administration (boss teachers) costs, and their non-teaching secretaries, office staff (also unionized), and then- "other expenses", which are benifits for teachers again, such as "proffesional training" "utilities" teachers lounge coke machines, refrigerators, coffee machines. One penny for students books. That's YOUR tax dollar, hard at work providing education salaries for "teachers" who teach children everything EXCEPT how to read, write, and do arithmatic. Home school, or send your kids to private school, and DEMAND your tax dollar back so you can properly educate your children, not have them indoctrinated with beliefs you don't agree with.

[VeniVidiVici]

Twenty cents pay for a variety of other expenses, such as utilities and professional training

Kinda ironic that the school employees get to spend more on schooling for themselves than the students get.

[goldstategop]

They'd be right... except its the public that pays their salaries and benefits. We're constantly told the huge amount of money flowing to the education establishment is "all for the children." The public would be surprised at how little of it actually reaches the kids its supposed to help.

(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")

[Criminal Number 18F]

You've seen it happening in the airlines.

You've seen it happening in the auto industry.

Now there is only one industry (if you can call it that) that still maintains a defined benefit pension program: government.

It will take longer for them to come to Jesus because they can always try to tax their way to prosperity (an approach Churchill described as standing in a bucket and trying to lift it by the handles). But they too will hit the wall.

The thing is, you can't have an expanding number of non-workers living off a rake-off from a declining or even static number of workers forever. There are many more people in the USA than there were fifty years ago, but not many more workers (and in many industries, fewer workers).

The politicians take comfort in their ignorance of numbers but the numbers matter whether you understand them or not.

I remember being a kid and feeling sorry for janitors. Right now a school janitor is more likely than a DC-10 captain to have a pension he can count on. But they'll both lose their social security to the illegals.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[Darkwolf377]

Just slap a $20 a pack tax on cigarettes, that'll fix 'er. :)

[Hoodat]

With a student-teacher ratio of less than 10:1, they should by far have the best schools in the country. Most school districts have ratios approaching 30:1.

[libertylover]

The district, which enrolls 57,675 students in its regular kindergarten to 12th-grade classes and its county programs, employs 6,000 teachers and aides...

With less than 10 students per teacher and the biggest hit on the budget being the payroll it seems obvious they have too many teachers.

[poobear]

"So why all the hand-wringing about money?"

Because we're on to you. Socialism in your face is ugly!

[RobbyS]

More than one adult per ten children. Aides are not teachers. Useful would be a breakdown in the type of teacher. Also the costs of administration should be broken out. Superintendents commonly earn more than the President of the United States and asst. superintendents more than cabinet members. The rule of thumb is that the lowest paid asst. Principal will earn more than the highest paid teacher. Not that teachers are likely to be poor. Most teachers are part of two income households. Just guessing, I gather that the average teacher spouse will earn at least as much as the average teacher. So the average income of such a household may be as much as $120,000 a year. Not huge, but well within the middle class.

[John Jorsett]

The district, which enrolls 57,675 students in its regular kindergarten to 12th-grade classes and its county programs, employs 6,000 teachers and aides

That's 9.6 students per each teacher/aide. Is that typical? Back when I was a kid, there'd be 30 of us, and no aide.