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Letter: School board candidates Jim Cogan and Nathan Williams advocate for fiscal responsibility 

Letter to the editor paso robles daily news

A letter to our community, families, and those that support our schools.

Fiscal responsibility: two approaches – cut services or grow revenue

–Fiscal responsibility will always be among the top priorities of any candidate for local office, especially the school board. How many times have you heard the well-worn cliché, “we need to live within our means?” It’s the politically correct statement. It’s relatable to how we seek to manage our personal finances and it shows that a candidate is “grounded.” Unfortunately, it’s also incomplete, because it neglects to tell voters how a candidate intends to “live within our means.” It fails to show any insight into the complexity of California educational funding. The next cliché is usually something like, “we need to trim the fat from the budget.” Again, it fails the test of actual leadership, because budgets are not presented to the board with a line item for “fat.” No administrator worth their salt would ever develop a budget with programs that are obviously frivolous. So, then you are left with cutting programs that serve students, and those programs serve students that include a constituency of parents, students, and staff who will advocate for their programs. When you advocate for cutting programs that serve students, you begin a spiral of dwindling budget revenue and cuts that lead to continuing revenue reductions and it also alienates the support and belief in what we are all trying to achieve for our kids. Why? Simply put, Paso Robles schools are funded based on student enrollment and average daily attendance. Families have other educational options and will exercise them if they feel their students are not getting the best education. The result is further reductions in enrollment, and further cuts.

There is another, and we argue superior, approach to “living within our means.” We need to grow our revenue. We are not suggesting a tax increase. Paso voters already voted to tax themselves through Measure M; we gave at the office. The district needs to increase revenue without raising taxes, and we have a great opportunity to do that. The 7-11 Committee has begun the important work of determining what to do with vacant land the district owns. If the district uses that land to develop affordable housing, some of which could be reserved for teachers, that would create a new ongoing revenue stream. New revenue can be used to fulfill the promises that were made to voters in Measure M but are currently underfunded (such as the pools). It can also be used to enhance services to students, like additional elective courses in vocational education, art, music or foreign languages. Parents have passionately expressed to us that they would like to see such courses offered at Flamson, Lewis, and the high schools.

Enhanced student services will make Paso Robles a district of choice and preference compared to neighboring districts and allow us to compete for enrollment. In addition, the better the school district, the higher the likelihood good employers will choose to locate and grow in Paso Robles, improving our economy and increasing our local job base. Increased revenue can be used to enhance our already amazing programs and add to them to prepare students for the jobs of tomorrow. Increased enrollment of course then increases our revenue from the state.

The bottom line is that using vacant land to build affordable/teacher housing can initiate a virtuous cycle of increased revenue, which enhances student services, which increases enrollment, which increases revenue. That is a vision for “living within our means” which means better education for our students. Let’s make sure that the next school board has the vision, ability, and determination to improve our district and create change to leave education in Paso better than when they were elected. Let’s reverse the trend of decreasing enrollment and cutting services. Let’s choose vision and passion for productivity over empty clichés. Paso Robles embodies a profound and noble American truth, working together we can overcome any hardship and accomplish any goal. We can do this. We are Paso strong!

Jim Cogan & Nathan Williams
Paso Robles Joint Unified School District Board Candidates


Editor’s note: Letters to the editor, opinion articles, and editorials are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Paso Robles Daily News or its staff. We welcome letters from local residents regarding relevant local topics. To submit one, click here.

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