Helping Alameda Schools Stay Excellent

By Frank Matarrese

As Mayor I will make sure that the City does everything it can to help Alameda Schools stay excellent and address their financial crisis

Shuttering schools is one way to close the gap, but there is a price paid by the community for each empty campus. We can live with the impact of these vacant buildings in our neighborhoods and severely compromise the quality of our schools, or we can raise the funds needed to keep schools open, deliver top education, and maintain our property values.

The solution will need to be broad-based. Before another parcel tax measure goes to the ballot, we must make sure that all other avenues have been taken, including increased resource sharing between the City and AUSD.

The City is currently aiding the school district by keeping AMP utility costs down, assigning site resource police officers, and providing City library support for school libraries. These efforts should be expanded. Additional projects and existing operations that can be shared between the City and AUSD, such as field and facilities improvements, must be identified to free up dollars for education. Because of State budget problems, other supplemental local funding should be explored, too.

I call on all members of the community to come together and work towards a parcel tax measure that provides as much funding as possible without creating a severe hardship on families and businesses. Structural changes to the AUSD may be inevitable, but I believe that by taking a broad-based approach we can minimize the need for consolidations and closures.

We as a community are responsible for the condition of our school system and we all share in the benefits of excellent schools. It's time for us to take a truly community-based approach to support this critical part of Alameda.