Deasy, Landlords Face Off

By Constance Tillotson

April 8 -- School Superintendent John Deasy faced what was likely his toughest crowd yet Monday night when skeptical landlords questioned why they should back a $225 parcel tax to help bail out the cash-starved school district.

At the monthly meeting of the ACTION Apartment Association, Deasy painted a bleak economic picture of a district facing a $13 million budget shortfall in the upcoming school year, but stopped short of endorsing Measure S on the June ballot due to ethical concerns.

“It’s unethical for me, a Superintendent, to tell you to vote for this,” said Deasy. “But I can say that if it passes, $6.2 million will be brought into the schools. The reality is we need the support to maintain the level of excellence in our schools that this community has come to expect.”

But landlords questioned why they should back a parcel tax that benefits renters with children or endorse a campaign run by strategists closely tied to Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights, a group they have been fighting for more than two decades.

“Where is the fairness to support this when those using the schools are not paying the taxes, but the homeowners who don’t have children are?” said ACTION President Gordon Gitlen, inspiring cheers from the nearly filled auditorium at Roosevelt Elementary School.

“The Renters Rights group who are pulling the strings in the city government decided, ‘Let’s push this off on the homeowners,’” Gitlen said. “We would like the City to start reaching into their own pockets.”

Deasy said that he, too, “would look forward to that support.” He also noted that the parcel tax could be passed on to the tenants, making no dent in a landlord’s pocketbook.

When pressed with the concern that 20 percent of those enrolled in the system live outside the district, Deasy countered that the School Board has imposed a moratorium on the permits that allow students from outside the district to attend local schools.

“Those students bring $6,000 (each) to the district,” said Deasy. “While no more students are being allowed in, we will honor those who are already here.”

One landlord challenged the success of public schools, stating that “most people he knows send their kids to private schools.”

“How you feel about (public schools) is one thing,” Deasy responded. “Our statistics show you another thing. Our improvement is astronomical. We are in the top ten in the State. Public schools in California produce the most Nobel laureates in the world.”

But recent cuts approved by the school board to make up for State budget cuts could jeopardize the gains made by the district, Deasy warned. The cuts include eliminating 66 full time teachers and 25 teachers in special programs, including all elementary music teachers, and increasing class sizes in the lower grades.

The cuts also would eliminate all elementary library coordinators and physical education aids and specialists, many school nurses and service personnel and 12 administrators, including one principal.

“California is in its worst financial crisis in the state’s history,” Deasy told he crowd. “Our budget was cut by $13.5 million. We had to notify 20 percent of our work force that they would not be returning to our schools.

“Class size will increase to an egregious high level,” Deasy said. “The state cannot digest the budget deficit in the programs it has established.”

One landlord told Deasy that “people would be more on the bandwagon if we knew everything else had been done, that we know you have our own interests at heart.”