FROM THE BACK PEW

Budget Teeter-Taughters: Tim Fitzharris

Giving the wrap-up at the annual Spring Institute of the Child Development Policy Institute (CDPI), legislative advocate for child care and child development, Tim Fitzharris (at right), urged the nearly 300 attendees to go to next week's budget hearings and "show the members of the legislature what the blood in the street looks like."

When the money is cut, Fitzharris said -- "and that may be as soon as tomorrow" -- budgeters will have to make choices between education and human services and providers may have to make choices between "children in the seats" and the associated program services.

Where do we go from here? Fitzharris questioned. "Family support issues, results-based accountability, attaching money to quality standards, data-based policy and continuous quality improvement, leveraging money, coaching, professional development, and working as one system.

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Indeed, there was a single message directed at the audience and based on yesterday's election results (and the dire condition of the budget and the economy prior to the election): it was Benjamin Franklin's famous warning:

"We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately."

A Cell Phone in Her Pocket: Sherry Novick

"You know that phone number you could call to get more information on 'No on 1D'? "Sherry Novick (at left), executive director of First 5 Association of California asked the attendees at the CDPI Spring Institute.

"Well, I had that phone" -- she patted her pocket --  "with me at all times. I talked to a lot of voters."

From a First 5 perspective, Novick commented:

"We are 58 different local government entities....still, almost every country commission is funding in certain [similar] areas.

"We will see some redirection in many counties toward specific needs that have been caused by the downtown in the economy. We've seen, for example, some counties funding homeless shelters, something First 5 never did before....I've already heard from some commisions that have country supervisors serving on them saying, 'Hmmmmm, how can the counties borrow from First 5?' We're going to see a lot of re-evaulation of who is being served.

"Over a third of the commission fund private providers, local planning coucils...we're going to see a more critical look: are we leveraging dollars to the max? Are we working well with our partnerships?"

"What a somber time it is....": Lois Salisbury

The director of the children, families & communities  program of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Lois Salisbury (at right), noted before the Child Development Policy Institute today that the California state budget has always been considered a "kids' budget" -- 61% of the state budget is, in some way, directed at children.

"It is therefore, the children whose futures are at stake in the fundamental reforms we have failed to implement...." she said, adding that California will be well positioned to compete for the federal funds that are available if the work of the Early Learning Quality Improvement System Advisory Committee (ELQIS) goes forward as a model for the rest of the country on accountability, measurement of results, and efficacy of the programs to involve of parents.

"It would behoove us," Salisbury urged, "to do it" -- the work of ELQIS -- "in less than two years... It has to get out there, to help the other states," she emphasized.  "We must do it faster... If this results-oriented, transparent system is in place, we can work toward getting the money and getting the work done, we will set the benchmark for being ready, "the system that is ready to shake hands with any kind of funding stream."

Public funding and public accountability must come alive, Salisbury said, "at the community level."

Tough for the Unions: Dave Gordon

Superintendent Dave Gordon (at left with Lois Salisbury), Sacramento County Office of Education, pointed out that half the unions supported the ballot measures in Wednesday's California special election -- and half lobbied again them. What are the options for the unions now? Lay off some, with no cuts in pay to the remaining workers? Make concessions?  "Something unions are not prone to do." Three, let individual districts solve their problems....

"And what if, say, the Legislature closes school for 12 more days? More pressure on the child care programs."

Suggesting that we also look at some of the positive things that have occurred in the EC community in the last few years, Gordon said, " Look at the great strides we've made: for example, in California, schooling is no longer seen as K-12, it's seen as P-12.  (Applause.)

California's money? "There is no there there" -- Sen. Ducheny

 California State Senate Budget Chair Denise Ducheny (D-San Diego; at left)) took time away from the critical post-election work at the capitol to address the Child Development Policy Institute's Spring Institute in Sacramento today, saying "We now have to look at the state of California as one, big dysfunctional family."

"We are in a very difficult place, just a like a family who finds out that you really shouldn't just be paying interest on your credit cards....everyone is just saying now, 'just don't spend.' We've been enablers in a lot of ways because we've allowed people to believe that you could get away with not paying taxes and still suffer no disruptions in services. ..... For 30 years , all the machinations we participated in to get around the problems of Proposition 13...that's over. That's gone on and on and all the chickens came home to roost at the same time, as long as we had growth, real growth, we were able to paper over the problems.

"Since last September, we've lost 3 full points in employment in this state, we will have this  year negative income growth in California for the first time since 1938. Sales tax is down -- no one's buying new cars ; property taxes are down...

"Contrarily, as the economy collapses, the need for services increases. CalWorks worked for 8 years. Now, in this economy, the Calworks rolls are increasing...

"We will be called on as families and neighbors to be neighbors again. The vulnerable part of society that has been helped by the state's social services safety net -- there isn't enough money -- the vulnerable part will fall back in the lap of neighbors, families, communities.

"We're going to have to find the way to get ourselves back on a path to growth....that my dead-and-downer speech, as my staff says... you know, child development and early education is what will keep people out of the foster program, out of prison, out of drug and alcohol addictions, if we don't deal with those issues, with an investment in early childhood education, we can't change the trajectory. We need everyone to try and row together."