Whistle Letter

Michelle Raley

Educator and CalProEd Founder

7995 Auburn Folsom Road

Granite Bay, California 95746

916.791.7265

February 2, 2018

The Honorable Edmund G. Brown

Governor

c/o State Capitol, Suite 1173

Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Governor Brown:

I am writing today to let you know billions of taxpayer dollars meant to educate children have been just sitting in the coffers of public school districts for years: Many districts’ balances increase year after year. Others go in cycles. It’s not unusual for school districts to buy or own real estate with no plan to ever use the space to educate the district’s students.

This morning I filed a Whistleblower Complaint. School districts need to come clean about their “reserves.” Their students and taxpayers deserve better. The shell game needs to end.

School districts need to quit playing word games. Districts are supposed to have a 3% “reserve” for economic uncertainties. California school districts mislead the public and only speak to one fund, the General Fund when they set budgets and talk “reserves.” But there are other funds, with enormous amounts of money, most growing annually.

Of the eight school districts I sampled thus far, the actual total reserves in all the district’s funds ranged from 25.3% ($6,800,000) in Galt Joint Unified to a 77% (a whopping $5,106,000,000) in Los Angeles Unified, and topped out at 141% ($80,000,000) in Fountain Valley California.

Please let me help you return billions of dollars of idle taxpayer money back into the system. This is an issue Republicans and Democrats should be able to get behind. There is no doubt: School districts are double-dealing, hoarding taxpayer dollars as the pretend to not look like they are playing the “use it or lose it” game.

To appear to have spent every dime in order to secure an increase in funding the following year while amassing fortunes in “other funds” is disingenuous. To ask parents to support foundations and donate Kleenex while school districts squirrel away millions is wrong. To ask taxpayers to scrape the barrel to pass bonds to improve facilities while school districts add to their treasure chest is cunning. To deny children the resources due them is unethical, to say the least.

Encourage lawmakers to write legislation to prevent this menacing practice. The money was meant to educate children, many of whom have long passed through the system, but it’s not too late for it to do something good.

Truly,

Michelle Raley

Wilma Cavitt Junior High School Teacher

CalProEd Founder and President