Letter to School Board re: Saving Ed-Data
Dear Board Members,
I spoke to several of you at the Yes on B kick off about helping to save Ed-Data, by having the Santa Cruz City School board pass a resolution urging our representatives in Sacramento to work to restore funding for it to the 2003-2004 budget cycle. I promised to get back to you with more information. Conveniently, Ed-Data has taken care of much of that responsibility for me. Please look at the email below, and then visit the Ed-Data web site at http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us to see this unique and convenient service in action. At the direction of one of you, I have emailed Keith with a query about the proper process for making this happen.
Several points:
Ed-Data is a crucial resource for parents and educational activists wanting a better understanding of their the schools and districts within their community. I and other activists reference it constantly in discussions about school performance, diversity of students and staff at individual schools and within districts (ethnic, economic, lingual and otherwise), class sizes, staff qualifications, budget issues (district financial reports dating back to 1993 are available)… and on and on and on. I personally reference the data available constantly in my conversation with other activists in this community, and my wife and I used it to place our children in B40 elementary (instead of Bonny Doon Elementary) two years ago.
Informed advocates are better advocates - and ones that consume less staff time with uninformed queries.
Ed-Data saves the Santa Cruz City School district money - by providing a common platform through which to present data from any school district, SCCS avoids having to re-invent the wheel. Compare the information available at http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us/fiscal/fundingsummary.asp?reportNumber=4&level=06&fyr=0001&county=44&district=69815 to the raw spreadsheets district staff, with limited resources, were able to provide members of the public during this year’s budget discussions. And this information is available dating back to the 1992-1993 school year!
Ed-Data is an example of how government can work, effectively, with technology - and in alliance with private sector non-profits. When headlines across the state are filled with stories of monumental budgetary overruns in other agencies (and tales of past failings), it is truly sad to see a successful project that performs very effectively within a limited budget be defunded.
Parents use this information to better understand the schools they are contemplating sending their children to - Ed-Data provides a conveinent, objective, data driven source of information to balance out the often subjective and uncertain word of mouth and “reputation” based information parents are otherwise left to rely on to make decisions. The information in Ed-Data gives parents the confidence to send their children to public schools.
Ed-Data isn’t just about data - it is about understanding the data. It demystifies the bureaucratese by providing clear and cogent definitions of common terms (see their glossary at http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us/Navigation/fsTwoPanel.asp?bottom=/Glossary.asp for an example), provides a general overview on many issues (for example, see their School Finance System Primer at http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us/finance/SF_Prime2.asp), and provide helpful explanatory information in context with each of its reports (see, for example, the report on Branciforte Elementary students, at http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us/profile.asp?Reportnumber=16&fyr=0102&county=44&district=69815&school=6049878&Level=07 - note that the data is surrounded by explanations and helpful graphs, and that links are provided to detailed definitions and explanations at the bottom of each table).
For all these reasons, and more, I believe that restoring funding for Ed-Data should be a high priority for our representatives in Sacramento, and that the board of Santa Cruz City Schools should pass a resolution in support of such efforts (as should other boards).
Regards,
Thomas Leavitt
cc: Supt. Keith Parkhurst, Sen. Bruce McPherson, Assemblymember John Laird, EdSource, Santa Cruz City Schools email list, School Voices email list
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—– Original Message —–
From: “EdSource”
To:
Sent: Wednesday, April 09, 2003 12:15 PM
Subject: Ed-Data’s Future in Jeopardy
> As many of you know, EdSource has been one of the four partners in the Ed-Data Partnership since its inception. You may have heard by now that the state’s budget crisis could eliminate the Ed-Data website (http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us). We wish we could say that is only a rumor, but we can’t.
>
> The proposed 2003-04 budget does not contain the annual state allocation that keeps the Ed-Data website running. This relatively small amount is hardly enough to affect the state’s budget deficit, but absent legislative action to reverse this decision, funding will be cut to zero next year. At that point, we will no longer be able to maintain or update the site. It is currently unclear whether the site would be funded in future years or whether some partial allocation in the short term could allow us to preserve it pending restoration of full funding.
>
> Over the years many of you have graciously written to EdSource or to the Ed-Data site to express your appreciation for the type of information and the easy user interface this site provides. Local education agencies in particular, as well as researchers and the public, have told us that the site is a particularly valued resource in their work to understand and improve public schools and to strengthen school accountability.
>
> If you would like to express your opinion about the value of the Ed-Data website, contact your own representatives and the following key legislators:
> * Members of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on Education, Senators Jack Scott (chair), Bob Margett, and John Vasconcellos; and
> * Members of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Education Finance, Assemblymembers Joseph Simitian (chair), Wilma Chan, Lynn Daucher, Jackie Goldberg, Carol Liu, and Sharon Runner.
>
> For a directory of members and committee assignments, go to http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/acsframeset7text.htm or http://www.senate.ca.gov/~newsen/senators/senators.htp. Or visit the official websites for the Senate and Assembly at: http://www.senate.ca.gov or http://www.assembly.ca.gov.
>
> Meanwhile, for the balance of this school year, the Ed-Data partners will continue to update and enhance the site. The newest updates, live on the site as of April 4, include:
> * Addition of 2001-02 data to the School/District/County/State Profiles, giving you all the vital statistics in one place and in an easy-to-access format.
> * Addition of 2001-02 data to our new School Comparison and District Comparison features.
> * The ability to compare districts each year from 1992-93 through 2001-02.
> * The ability to download a spreadsheet of the data presented in the School and District Comparison reports.
>
> In the next few months, you can expect the following:
> * Updated financial reports with 2001-02 data that includes detailed revenue and expenditure information for every school district and county office of education in the state.
> * A financial comparison feature (new) drawn from the financial reports that will enable you to compare districts across several different variables.
> * Updated text about California’s Public School Facilities and Bond and Parcel Tax Elections.
>
> If time permits, we also hope to provide district-level teacher salary data and more data about trends over time.
>
> In short, the Ed-Data partners will continue to enhance the site until our funding runs out. We encourage you to visit http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us often for new information, reports and features between now and June 30. We’ll keep you posted on the prognosis for the site’s continued existence.
>
> Best regards,
> The Ed-Data Partners: EdSource, the Alameda County Office of Education, the California Department of Education, and FCMAT
>
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