Goals
In coordination with one another, we seek to ensure the following:
Goal 1
Work in partnership with SPS to ensure schools are amply funded
We want to work in partnership with SPS to ensure our schools are amply funded. We need timely and transparent information and communication to advocate alongside the SPS Board and District for sustainable financial solutions that truly center students.
Goal 2
It is too early for SPS to decide on major budget cuts such as school closures and consolidations.
The SPS Board should not approve any plan, budget, or resolution that binds the district to budget cuts, school closures or consolidations until after the 2024 State Legislative Session ends in March 2024. It is premature for SPS to decide on budget cuts and school closures, because the state legislature might give us more funding. The state legislature will adopt its supplemental budget by the end of March 2024, so the district should hold off on major decisions until after the 2024 legislative session has ended.
Goal 3
We cannot close our way to well-resourced schools.
SPS says that “well-resourced schools” are those that can comprehensively and equitably support students. Well-resourced schools require stable funding and ample supports for students. Only the state can provide this stable funding by taxing wealth. Closing schools generates only a small financial savings in future years, and will not meaningfully address the $105 million budget deficit for the 2024-25 school year.
We believe that school closures are not the most effective way to create well-resourced schools.
Goal 4
The district needs multidirectional, transparent and timely communication with students, families, community and educators.
The District needs to use its own policies, commitments, and tools to develop budget options, and they need to share the results with the public in an authentic, accessible way. This includes :
Its own racial equity analysis tool, to understand whether options will exacerbate economic or racial/ethnic segregation.
Its Student Outcomes Focused Governance guardrail, which states that “the Superintendent will not allow school and district initiatives to go forth without engaging students of color furthest from educational justice and their families, including those who have a preferred language other than English and who require accommodations for disability.”
We encourage SPS to join families and caregivers in advocating to the State that it should amply fund public education across the state, by using revenues from the capital gains tax, passing a wealth tax, closing corporate tax loopholes, and other progressive levers.