Local education leaders speak at the annual State of Education forum. Photo courtesy of Long Beach Unified School District.
Despite continual academic progress being made by Long Beach’s major learning institutions, it is difficult to say there was not a grey cloud looming over Tuesday’s State of Education forum. In fact, Long Beach City College (LBCC) President Eloy Ortiz Oakley stated it aloud, “I’m tired and I’m grumpy.”
It was a sentiment, indirectly expressed or otherwise, that lingered throughout the forum’s entirety thanks to the shadow of Proposition 30. The leaders of our city’s educational institutions—Oakley, Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) Superintendent Christopher Steinhauser, and, filling in for Long Beach State (CSULB) President F. King Alexander, Provost & Vice President of Academic Affairs Donald Para—though hopeful and optimistic, were not minced in their words that things will ultimately be different in the future.
This is not to say the annual forum which brings together Long Beach’s three educational pillars was not entirely stained with cynicism—just tinged. For the powers of Long Beach education know what they are facing. They simply want to get there to face it and that race will not finish until Tuesday’s upcoming election.
Steinhauser, while praising programs and academic performance, simply asked, “How do we pay?” while noting that LBUSD is the city’s largest employer.
Tuesday’s election determines whether they will be facing truly massive cuts—in addition to the cuts already in place, tack on an additional $31 million for CSULB, $2 million for LBCC, and $31 million for LBUSD—or whether they will be facing relatively massive cuts—that is, adjusting to the cuts already in place if the $5.2 billion tax relief is voted in and prohibits trigger cuts from taking place in educational institutions across the state.
“It’s unfortunate, discouraging, and highly problematic we’re sitting here and having this conversation and we’re putting it all on one election—it’s all of our faults we’re here,” Oakley said. He went on to explain that if you are—rightfully so, he added—weary of handing Sacramento more money, then we must as a community step up to the task ourselves. “If that’s the case [that everyone distrusts Sacramento] then I hope we trust our own school systems. If Prop 30 doesn’t pass, then I hope we turn around and fund our own school systems in the future.”
The situation at hand is apparently so dire, it prompted Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Randy Gordon to voice his support of Proposition 30 indirectly when he said, “As someone heavily involved in politics, I too will be happy when next Tuesday is over… We hope and pray for these [educational leaders] that Prop 30 passes.”
This is not to say the entire forum was focused on the what-ifs. In fact, even with the lingering trigger cuts that could put Long Beach education in its most difficult situation yet, there was praise for our institutions—and not from the horse’s mouth, but from Gregory Darnieder, Senior Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Education.
“I say this with all sincerity,” Darneider said. “The work that is happening here is ten, twelve years ahead of almost every other community across the country.”
This was due to a multitude of factors, he said, but mainly that (much to smirk of Long Beachers within the room) “Long Beach keeps it Long Beach.” Unlike a majority of communities across the nation, we have three educational pillars within our city—a university, a community college, and a school district—and, on top of that luxury, we openly interconnect them through multiple initiatives, data sharing opportunities and the College Promise program.
Even further, we then connect our business community (the Chamber is a large sponsor of the forum itself) in encouraging—contradictory to the philosophy of PayPayl co-founder Peter Thiel—that education advances prosperity and business-building. Even Gordon commented that, following his day spent at a local school, the business community should encourage business folk to take even half-a-day off to visit a school.
The talk of the importance of collaboration, of business-meets-school, even prompted Chamber member Damon Dunn to personally take responsibility for initiating a tracking process with regards to ensuring high school seniors’ FAFSA applications are complete, which Darneider claimed LBUSD will start doing at the start of 2013.
In the end, our educational leaders did not frost the facade of our reality. They say they will continue working with one another for both support and creativity and they will continue reaching out to the business community in encouraging the theory that education indeed spurs economy.
As they all stated, Prop 30-approved or otherwise, they will continue to be great educational institutions—but simply different.