The “Water Cooler” is a feature on Claycord.com where we ask you a question or provide a topic, and you talk about it!
The “Water Cooler” will be up Monday-Friday at noon!
Today’s question:
We’ve had several reports that one middle school in the MDUSD has 48 kids in its 8th grade Spanish class (they’re working on lowering it).
QUESTION: In your opinion, what is an acceptable class size?
Talk about it….
That is way too many kids in a class, especially for a foreign language class.
That is way too many kids in a class, especially for a foreign language class. There should be no more than 25.
No,
No no no no no. When I went to school in the late 90s early 2000s the class sizes were in the low 30s and even then that was getting too big for 1 person to manage and keep in check. 40s? That is obscene.
Isn’t that illegal?
https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/pa/cefcsp.asp
Apparently 29.9 is the limit.
Too much…back when I was in school and had hair there were no more than 20. PE had much more.
Wow SP – you must be OLD. Like really old. Not just old like me.
Indeed Bobo…three days older than dirt.
Way too many kids in a classroom and the poor teacher has to try and keep order.
I am hearing that classes at Concord High are at 45+ in History and English classes.
What is MDUSD supposed to do, the State keeps slashing budgets and pink slipping great teachers.
Our schools need help……
…and yet we continue to re-elect the same idiots at the state legislature that continue to either steal from our children or are non supportive of additional funding for schools.
So the state lottery way back when was supposed to be for the schools in the state of ca. what happened to all the money it rakes in? Not going to the schools
20-25
I work at this school and I think the more important question that should be asked is: Why did MDUSD management under-staff their schools this year? These ridiculous class sizes are happening at schools all over the district. Every day that class sizes are over the contractual limit (and in the just plain silly range like this Spanish class of 48) students are losing valuable instructional time. MDUSD management needs to own up to their mistakes, give our schools the resources they need and fire whoever was in charge of staffing levels this year.
Unfortunately, this type of thing has been happening in MDUSD schools at the beginning of school years for a long time. I had a math class of 42 students in 1985 at a MDUSD middle school for a couple of weeks. Rebalancing took place and the issue was solved.
MDUSD teacher – I agree with your question. Theoretically, teachers should come back after break and start teaching the curriculum on day 1. They should not be worried about which kids get desks and which kids do not!
Maybe 25-30. We all hear (and read) about the advantages of smaller classroom, but larger classrooms can have their advantages too. The teacher won’t be able to ride in on a white horse and save you – the learning is up to you. Kids will have more students to interact with, and that can help the learning process too. That being said, something tells that 48 kids is overwhelming for the teacher, and kids that need the attention might not get it.
If you’re determined to learn, you’ll learn regardless. Back in the day they had “one room school houses” where kids of all grades were in the same class. Somehow, they learned.
Those 1 rm schoolhouses often accommodated fewer than 20 students total.
There are 48 students in 1 class? Or is there more than 1 class?
29-25 would bea better class size.
It is apparently now 50 as of August 20.
Ugh….all parents, need to support you and other teachers within the district and starting typing complaints now!!!!
Sounds like Measles central.
28 Max…. with gallons of hand sanitizer and survellance cameras in class.
As I said before they hire a high price superintendent and when they get things screwed up enough in one district they all play musical chairs and the music starts all over again.
The new super took over 3 days before classes started. Talk about getting thrown under the bus and into the fire! Wish him luck.
@JazzMan… Don’t feel too bad for the new Supe… They make enough money to deal with the underside of a fleet of buses!
Hidden Valley elementary has 900 students with the 5th grade classes at 35 students in each!
Just wait until the 60-something homes are built down the street. Then the classrooms will have bunk desks!
Good grief! I will guess that only those who already speak Spanish at home will learn anything.
Depending on the grade level 20-25
Do you think this is a direct result of MDUSD’s practice of pink-slipping some school staff at the end of the year and waiting until end of summer to *maybe* hire them back? Then scrambling when they are ready to hire and many staff have moved on to other jobs?
Or maybe their habit of waiting until the absolute last minute to accept inter-district transfer requests and then leave the schools scrambling when they get a bunch of extra students that they are glad to have but not prepared for on day one?
I’m honestly not sure. But I think the fact that this class is so packed is more on MDUSD than the actual school. My children go to this school. While they are not in this class, I know the staff is working really hard for a resolution. I hope the new super is reading this and is aware of how unacceptable this class size is.
What school is it? My child is in a mdusd middle school, and is taking Spanish!
I second, we were notified weeks! before school started that my child’s intra-district transfer was approved. Sounds like this delay is equally frustrating to teachers as patents.
Ahh, I see that kids and their parents are starting to realize that Spanish is not an elective anymore, but a requirement if you want to live in the new world.
I would speculate that learning to speak Mandarin and/or Cantonese would be more useful.
We need to build a wall around California, not at the border…
I feel like this is a Jeopardy challenge…
So here goes….
Alex, how do we make our state’s educational system on par with Missippi for $200.
We can start by teaching how to spell Mississippi.
Now go ahead and claim you were being ironic.
Apparently you all went to public school, 42 was a normal class size at CTK in Pleasant Hill. But I agree, that many kids is too many for ONE teacher, and for a foreign language.
They just hired a teacher last minute at my kids school so there’s now just under 30 kids per 1st grade class.
This is insane and infuriating. The overcrowding at our home schools has been getting worse and worse, yet they continue to allow students who live in Antioch and Bay Point to attend schools in Pleasant Hill. Everyone needs to stay in their neighborhoods and stop putting such burdens on other communities. Can’t we split up the district into smaller, more manageable districts?
No, the real problem is all the illegals being able to come here and register their kids for school, while getting free lunches. Not the people the next town over who are legally transferring their children.
Split up MDUSD? Heresy!!
I was just telling one of my coworkers today this district needs to pull it together and pay these teachers accordingly the elementary school I work for doesn’t have enough teachers for all the grades there are to many combo classes
Why are so many Hispanic students taking Spanish when they already speak Spanish?
I’m not sure if it’s the same for this school, but in my child’s middle school there are 2 separate Spanish classes offered: one for Spanish speakers and the other non-speakers. In any case 48 is too much for class.
Probably for the same reason English speaking students (most of us) took English. To improve your language skills. There is nothing wrong with someone taking any foreign language (regardless of culture) if you want to take the class.
English was always one of my favorite courses. It’s not like I didn’t know how to speak or write English.
Easy A?
My kids are in private school – 1st grade / 6th grade.
class size ranges between 15 – 19 students
You get what you pay for – and, I pay for school twice – taxes and net pay
On another note, it would benefit the kids more to learn an economic language – Mandarin, Russian, German, etc.
How much do you pay in taxes for school?
If everyone could afford private schools, they would be public.
If you pay property taxes, you are paying for MDUSD bond measures and supporting MDUSD even if your children attend private school. The amount you pay is determined by how much in bonds the school district has outstanding, and what bond measures are passed by the voters adding to the debt.
Anyone paying property taxes, therefore, should have a say in how the school district is managed whether or not they have children in school. At any given tine, only one quarter of the population have children in school, but we are all forced to pay for their education one way or another, nevertheless.
I pay extra by buying lottery tickets…. I’m doing my part!
You do have a say in how the schools are managed, it’s called voting, try it sometime. I’m not sure about all districts but the one I live in has a provision on the bonds to allow seniors to exempt themselves from paying that part of the property tax. Or maybe it’s easier to just whine anonymously on the internet. See:
https://www.acalanes.k12.ca.us/Page/114
Enjoy
I think 20 or so..That’s overcrowded!!! Someone that might need some help with his/her work, will not be able to get the help they need! We used to have small classroom sizes and a teachers asst..
I bet you just make up stories. The Acalanes high school district offers the following languages: French, Japanese, Mandarin, German, Latin, and Spanish. Maybe you could look up the information for your favorite school district.
Latin? I’ll bet the student teacher ratio in that class is closer to 1:1. Cancel Latin and add more Spanish classes.
Wanna have some fun with numbers? Do some research on state funding per high school student for high school districts vs unified school districts – particularly our 45 headed (not counting “alternative” schools) monster MDUSD.
Let me translate for all you people who are so accusatory and seem to be living in another era … like the 16th century perhaps. When someone says, “I bet …,” they are saying “I would venture to guess (although I don’t actually know for sure) that X, Y, Z is the case.” They are making an observation based on probabilities which draw from the direction society is moving, or predictable human behavior, or the law of averages, and so on. They aren’t “making up stories” which is accusing them of lying and is just plain rude.
MAGA tantrums on Claycord are solely the domain of leftists.
So… let me follow this logic: cutting a French language class is anti-American? I mean, I would argue it’s more anti-French than anything. Are you telling me that you WANT to spend extra money to offer other languages so that students can speak to… I don’t know… an IMMIGRANT?!? maybe even an ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT?!? You know people are here illegally from France too, right? So, let me ask again, do you want MORE foreign language classes?
48 is way too many. I bet some of the students in the class already speak Spanish at home so they will not benefit, esp. if this is a beginner class.
At my daughter’s school, the students are offered chance to “challenge” the class by taking test prior to the start of the class. If they pass the test, then they are waived from taking the class but still getting credit as if they are taking the class. This method will get rid of those students who already know the subject (and will be bored in the class) and keep those who need and want to learn in the class.
I heard a few years ago that MDUSD was going to open up Glenbrook Middle School again. What happened to that idea?
Linda Mayo won;t support it.
#1 supporter, Ms. Hansen fled the County after losing her bid to become Superintendent.
Reopening Holbrook came at significant cost to the public. Enrollment does not support Glenbrook without closing Oak Grove or Sequoia Middle. The MDUSD would have to house Rocketship (Charter School) at some other site.
What was the native language breakdown? Were these Spanish speaking kids looking for formal instruction of their native language, or non-Spanish speaking kids looking to learn the language? Yes, it makes a difference to me, because I’m old enough to remember when everything was done in English, the language of the founding fathers. My great-grandparents learned English and made sure their children learned it. Now, all levels of government print everything in multiple languages. A people are united by a common language, so this policy only creates division.
Actually, the United States has never had an official language and English has never been universally spoken. A number of different languages were spoken in colonial and early America, including French, Dutch, and German. Jefferson spoke several languages, while Franklin is said to have favored German as an official language.
While a majority of states have now adopted English as their official language (California being one of them), some states (Alaska, Hawaii, and South Dakota) have more than one official language, and others still have no official language.
I agree there is something to be said for language uniting a people, but lingual homogeneity is increasingly rare in this day and age, and I think there is something even more valuable brought to the table through diversity.
Too much diversity. It’s dividing the nation. Causing unrest and upheaval.
John, you are so right about “A people are united by a common language”.
Most businesses around the world use the ‘english language’ for legal transactions.
JA — Perhaps you’re right about all the unrest and upheaval. I mean there WAS an entire revolution. Fortunately, it ended in 1783.
Jose — So how does use of the English language for legal transactions unite the people of Switzerland, or Japan, or Norway, or Iran, or Côte d’Ivoire, or, you pick the place?
The Spanish teacher, along with many more, was pink slipped at the end of last year. They lost some good teachers! Its mdusd’s fault, no one elses.
Many staff still don’t have contracts either.
Time to put the money where its needed instead of paying people to do nothing in offices all day.
Come on people; Stop drinking the Kool-Aid. This info was sent to Claycord by a Unionista to stir the pot as a strike looms. This problem is common place for many reasons that are not in total control of management in this and many other districts. They have an allotted amount of time to make adjustments. Leave it be. it will be okay. Pay no mind to the anti-district/management naysayers.
I teach at a local school and will tell you any amount over 18 the children’s are harmed . Their education goes down from there.
This is why I tell people it’s worth every penny to put your child in private school. You pay for theit security and for them to care. My kids do not go to public school it’s a joke.
I love the children I teach so much. My boss knows how I feel and feels the same. It’s hard
me hope you no teach english
It looks like you took more than your share of art classes.
What can we do as parents of children in MDUSD to support you?
Bombard the district office. Strength in numbers.
Thank you for asking. Please call or email the school board. The teachers union has been trying to reduce class sizes (current max in the contract for this class is 37) through negotiations all last year, but the district refused to negotiate. Tell the school board that the oversized classes throughout the district is unacceptable, immoral, unconscionable, etc., and urge the school board to actually negotiate with the teachers union this year. Teachers working conditions are students learning conditions.
You can find the board members emails addresses here: https://www.mdusd.org/pf4/cms2/view_page?d=x&group_id=1516177889820&vdid=3i4a1rmioa2ykn
Or call, 925-682-8000, ext 4000
I work at this school. This is an elective class that students chose to take; some of these students may already speak Spanish at home, and this class will help them fine tune their knowledge of the language, but some students are choosing to take this class to learn another language. The district has known since last year that there were going to be too many students in this class. There was no reason for the district to put this many students in a class.
Just because the MDUSD did not agree with all demands that does mean they refused to negotiate. Both sides failed students of three fine schools by taking Summer off instead of continuing to negotiate. The CDE is watching.
48 kids in one class with one teacher? That comes with a built in guarantee there are roughly seven or eight students in that class who will be disruptive and siphon most of the teacher’s time and attention away from the rest of the students. That is a ridiculous class size. We had better ratios when I had a kid in Oakland Unified. It’ll be a sad waste of time for many if not most of the 48 students.
For one teacher to teach kids that insane
Those kids better off tutor lesson
Gov brown instituted the defunding of school systems in favor of supporting illegals
What you thought our children wouldn’t suffer lol
Now your elustrious newscum is 10 times worse than brown both times he sat in the chair
Sorry this is the first slap
The best part is it is allready too late
Up in arms over class sizes just wait till their plan of secureing an astronomical class of representatives based on population
The separation will begin and socialist communist gov installed
You voted for this
That is the best part
You gave away everything for what
A sneer at the water cooler
This is how freedom dies
With thunderous applause and acceptance over standards
The district is a mess thanks to (THE LITTLE MAN) everyone that works for MDUSD knows who I’m talking about !!! He has created this mess. The district is at its worst. He has hired uneducated, Principals who are racist to white teachers. The kids are being bullied, special ed students are not getting their services meet. Now that the new superintendent is here, the (LITTLE MAN) and all his followers are tweeting up a storm kissing ass !!! DON’T LET THEM FOOL YOU DR. MARTINEZ !!! We have lost some great teachers thanks to the horrible (LITTLE MAN) and his BFFs from Cambridge now principals ! So useless
You’re anonymous! Say specifics so us parents who don’t know who you’re talking about can learn something and make a change when election comes up! Don’t make me ready between the lines. Say what you mean.
Data in my hands suggests that this upset individual is blaming Mr. Jose Espinoza, Assistant Superintendent of Elementary Schools for the MDUSD, formerly the Principal of Cambridge Elementary, with a few other roles in between.
Great to see my California Lottery gambling habit is paying off.
So I take it by all this tripe that a strike is coming
This happens at the beginning of every school year. Parents are responsible for a lot of the mess. MDUSD can only make a best guess as to how many kids will be there the first day. Many parents new to the district don’t bother to register their kids until the first day of school. Families that move out of the district during the summer don’t let the district know they’ve moved. MDUSD has to wait until the dust settles after the first week or so to figure how many kids are actually in each class. Then they rebalance classes to meet teacher contract requirements.
Please. They pink-slipped the hell out of teachers at the end of the year to try to save money and rehire teachers who they could pay less and weren’t tenured. It’s a strategy that backfires worse and worse each year. I was in the office for my kid’s school on the first day and in the 45 minutes I was there, they only spoke to two families about their transfers. One school, two kids. Not enough reason to anticipate eliminating an entire class.
Jessica is correct, they did pink slip way too many teachers based on numbers that were totally wrong and mdusd has known about the numbers for weeks and done nothing! But they’re still posting.on their district Facebook page how wonderful mdusd schools are. Baloney.
I don’t understand why they are saving money on teachers but giving 23% raises to city management.
@Justifiable Anger, The city of Concord does not run MDUSD. They are completely separate entities. What raises Concord employees get has absolutely nothing to do with MDUSD teacher pay. The residents of Concord elect the city council members that run Concord. Residents within MDUSD, which covers Concord as well as parts of other cities such as WC and PH, elect a school board to run MDUSD.
Actually Retta, a strike looks imminent, not because of class size but because teachers have been working on an expired contract for two years.
Regarding class size, this is standard procedure for the district—to push enrollments to the limit but not over the limit that would require another class or a Vice Principal.
I know of at least one school in the district where a grade level doesn’t have math textbooks. The grade level was given a binder and told to photocopy what they needed.
All this from the district that wouldn’t provide health insurance for teachers until a certain Federal Healthcare program mandated it.
Sorry to say, the district puts kids last and it won’t change until our community demands better for our children.
Actually, the teachers forfeited their benefits in lieu of more $$$ (about a 20% increase) and then turned around the next year and demanded them back (and got it). The initial agreement was less $$ & keeping benefits but that wasn’t enough. I agree teachers, as well as many other employees of the district, need to make more money. However the teachers in MDUSD make a good living, much better than most other employees. When the unions force the district to give more to a certain group you do know that another group will suffer….you’ll find there is no one to clean the classrooms, fix the AC or heat, secure campuses or many other needs of the facilities. Don’t forget about bus drivers, mechanics, painters (for the graffiti), landscapers, office staff, HR, payroll, etc. There is a trickle down effect when huge cuts are made. There is only a certain amount of money the district gets each year and they must balance it all. It’s not as easy of you make it sound. And if you have better ideas you should take them to the board meetings, they do listen. But to just give more to a certain group just because they are the bigger bullies, thats not right either.
It was the union’s fault the teachers lost their employer health insurance so many years ago. Their own incompetent (corrupt?) union leadership negotiated a salary increase in lieu of health insurance and convinced their membership it was a great deal. It was not MDUSD pushing for this. It was the union leaders. My kids were in MDUSD at the time, and I remember discussing it with their teachers. Union leadership convinced them that MDUSD health insurance was too expensive and they could get cheaper insurance if they gave up their employer insurance and bought it on their own. This was when insurance premiums were starting their steep rise and news outlets were starting to report on rising costs. This was an incredibly stupid thing to do, but my kids’ teachers were convinced by their leadership that giving up their insurance and getting more money in their paycheck was a great deal for them. Of course they came to regret the deal and tried to get their health insurance back in later contracts, blaming MDUSD for the loss of their insurance instead of taking responsibility for their own actions. But with the rising cost of health insurance and low education funding in CA, it was never going to be easy for MDUSD to restore such an expensive benefit. The money had been budgeted elsewhere.
Putting false but easily verifiable information out there doesn’t help generate sympathy for MDEA;s cause. My understanding is that the salary/insurance issue was spearheaded by older teachers wanting to legally spike their salaries in order to increase retirement benefits. That certain Federal Healthcare program had little, if anything, to do with it, as insurance was back in the contract before a certain president was even elected.
Standard procedure for the district — and all districts for that matter — is to estimate the class loads in the spring or early summer and adjust, if necessary, when the actual number of students show up in the fall. Balancing loads is often required and, in fact, is anticipated and provided for by state law and in most CBAs.
There are also occasions where, for whatever reason, new textbooks don’t arrive in time. My wife is a teacher in another district and that is the case for one of her sections this year. It’s not the end of the world and I’m confident it will be resolved soon.
The concept of throwing all your complaints at the wall and hoping one sticks is a bad strategy, to say the least, and it’s one that may backfire on teachers, especially when so many of those complaints are just flat out wrong or exaggerated.
By the way, my comments are coming from someone who is very supportive of teachers. I can only imagine the thoughts of those who are also aware of the facts but are not so supportive.
Sorry folks, BEFORE the contract where the district offered the opt in healthcare in lieu of a raise, there was NO employer contribution to healthcare.
Imagine though, your employer proposes a contract of no raise + healthcare or raise but no healthcare. What do you choose?
Is the union inept? yes, are they corrupt? No. The people negotiating are educators and not professional union organizers unlike many other unions.
@not exactly, my spouse’s site got air conditioning 2 years ago, works great. There’s a staff of year round janitors there. Busses, every day. Seems that’s all paid for as well as six figure salaries for district superintendents. But you’re right, the District has decided that there no money for math textbooks at my spouse’s site. Blaming teachers for that and calling them bullies.? wow.
@Former Parent. During that negotiation,The district proposed lowered contributions to HC to make costs prohibitive to members while offering no raise. One of the reasons for the ACA was to eliminate these kinds of negotiating tactics.
@mtzman your understanding is incorrect. Employee pensions are not based on a formula that allow pension spiking. That’s a different union, not MDEA. How exactly would that work anyway? Teachers are not allowed overtime, in fact they’re expected to do much work “off the clock”. Pay “steps” are capped.
It’s a sad day on Claycord when people argue against the very people who are responsible for bettering the lives of Claycord children.
Once again, you are being misleading or just plain wrong. I am not sure what time frame you are talking about, but if there is a situation where there is no health care benefits and then they are added, that IS a raise even if there is no additional salary increase.
“Is the union inept? yes” Those are your words, not mine. It is a difficult task because there are so many different interests being represented. “Are they corrupt? No.” I don’t think anyone has suggested otherwise.
“The people negotiating are educators and not professional union organizers unlike many other unions.” Actually, not true. MDEA works with the CTA, who have their experts and negotiators working in tandem with the MDEA bargaining team.
“[T]he District has decided that there no money for math textbooks at my spouse’s site.” Have they actually said that or are they delayed in arriving? I suspect it is the latter which is true, but please correct me if I am wrong.
“Employee pensions are not based on a formula that allow pension spiking. That’s a different union, not MDEA. How exactly would that work anyway?” Here’s how it works. Pensions through CalSTRS are based on a percentage of income earned during the last 36 months of employment. If salaries increase during that 36 month period, that increases the pension. Now maybe that formula has changed over the last couple of years, but it was certainly in place back when the teachers negotiated the salary/insurance issue.
Not everyone agrees with you about smaller classes being better. When Clayton Valley High School converted to a charter school, many parents wanted the additional state funding to be used to reduce class sizes. As I recall, the teachers (who forced the school to go charter) weren’t interested in doing that. Their plan was to use the additional money to raise their own salaries, not hire additional teachers. CVCHS’s Executive Director, David Linzey, was quite outspoken in saying that he wasn’t going to reduce class sizes because smaller classes did not increase test scores. In fact, CVCHS administrators stuffed the school to the gills, enrolling hundreds of additional students.
I grew up in Michigan & went to a Catholic elementary school thru 6th grade. My classes had anywhere from 40 to 53 students. We stayed in the same classroom & the teachers were the ones changing rooms every hour – except of course for gymnastics and that was always before or after lunch.
Pyrrhus, I agree with everything you wrote in your second comment. See? Miracles happen.
I’m agree that 48 kids in any class is ridiculous & should never have been allowed in the first place. There should be no more than 25 kids per class and less if possible.
RE: Teachers salary and benefits
Teachers did it to themselves when their leadership made a sweetheart deal with the then superintendent to drop benefits in favor of salary. This helped more senior teachers pad their retirement. It did leave the younger teachers out in the cold for health benefits. There were those who warned teachers would be nuts to accept that trade off since health insurance cost increased a helluva lot faster than salary increases.Once they discovered hey had been had they came back with pleas to reinstate health care. The Board ignored the teachers and led by Board member Linda Mayo in denying restoration of health care benefits teachers went without for twenty years During those years
MDUSD lost many fine teachers who went to surrounding districts.
Strike? No way, It would be counter productive and meaningless. What you have is MDEA leadership who think they are hotshot Oakland types and we have all seen how Oakland has turned out. My mother went through the ’77 debacle and said never again would she do anything like that. As a result of that she dropped her membership and paid only what she had to in agency fees.
As far as the new leadership coming in I am not optimistic. A superintendent with no classroom experience is not an educator; he’s a manager. The former superintendent, Dr. Meyer, was an educator with a breadth of experience. Her success speaks for itself. This current superintendent was not hired for educational expertise but rather his diversity street credentials.
Disclosure: My grandchildren go to De La Salle and Carodelet. Their parents went to Las Lomas. My mother taught at Valle Verde and Ayers. I taught at Northgate and College Park.
Finally, the district elections change should give people an opportunity to run for office. I would encourage most school managers to run as they are experts in running and leading a site. The current board is 40% competent; the other 60% need to be sent home.
Peace
During the period of time when Board Member Linda Mayo allowed teachers to sacrifice health benefits, Ms. Mayo continued to claim benefits, on average of $14,000 in benefits for the $8,700 Board position, each year.
If what you say is true and she denied the return of health benefits to teachers, she did so while collecting herself. In 2017 she received almost $16,000 in benefits for her $9,000 Board position.
Quite the career.
Again, keep electing the same fools and idiots and this is what happens, not to mention teachers going on strike for more $’s and to many undocumented kids flooding our school system.
Those few of us actual tax paying citizens have had enough. California will keep continuing feeling the pain as those of us who are native Californians are exhausted by all this in fighting and leaving. When the “old school” tax base is gone what cha going do Liberals and Newsom?
Actually, there will be more tax revenue when you sell your home for a profit and the new owner pays taxes on what the value of your home is really worth. The old school tax base will be replaced.
Undocumented residents do pay federal taxes. While complicated, here is a great primer on the topic: https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/how-do-undocumented-immigrants-pay-federal-taxes-an-explainer/
Remember, they also pay state and local taxes through being a member of local economies. If they own a home, they pay property taxes as well.
Besides, if you went to a public college or university prior to the 70’s most likely you paid little or nothing to attend. Teachers today spend north of $40k to become fully licensed and credentialed. Teachers need a living wage, plain and simple.
Your post assumes that California’s “old money” is all in the hands of White “native Californians”, which assumes they hold the vast amount of wealth in the state. Many of the native Californians are living on reservations, everyone else is an immigrant.
@Susan I. Your post assumes that white “native Californians” are Native American which simply is not true.
Today I attended my daughter 8th grade back to school night 41 students in one math class teacher is super helpful and says she sometimes stays after school is out if they have any questions with math they can come see her. She also brought to our attention that the school no longer offers any after school help clinics for the kids who need it! What a joke! Sorry but this is not ok!!! This school already has very low scores in this school, so now I feel like the MDUSD has totally failed our kids once again! Sorry but these kids are our future!
Just wondering….. Do alot of Concord kids attend Northgate High in Walnut Creek? It seems kind of out of the way…. but there is always a huge traffic backup at the light on Ygnacio Valley Rd. heading down into Walnut Creek , of cars turning left onto Oak Grove that backs up and blocks a lane of thru traffic.
I thought Concord kids would go to CVHS or YVHS or CHS…. no?
Yes, parts of Concord do go to Northgate. The Crossings neighborhood (where the big smokestack used to be) goes to Northgate. Families that live within the attendance boundaries of CVCHS can choose to send their child to a MDUSD high school instead. As far as I know, Northgate is an option for them.
@Jellyfinger Somebody correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the Montecito development (across from where Cowell Road meets Ygnacio Valley Road at the signal) is assigned to Northgate.
Thanks to both of you for the info…….but I can’t believe they’d send Concord kids all the way over there and it’s certain that nobody gave a rat’s patoot about how badly that would screw up traffic before they went ahead and did it!
Maybe we need a longer left turn lane added to handle school traffic…. like the special truck lane on Kirker Pass…. make it 1/2 a mile long.
I don’t think students going left on Oak Grove to go down to Northgate makes a significant impact on the traffic during the mornings. I go through there routinely in the morning and whether it is summer or fall the traffic is horrible. The City of Walnut Creek has turned traffic into a destruction derby all over Walnut Creek.
You would have to be driving it before school starts.
It makes a big difference.
No way you wouldn’t notice.
Traffic in the left lane comes to a complete stop.
I’m a sped teacher and currently have 18 sped students in my class! My max is 15. I also don’t have my assistant during the last hour (assistant’t contract limit, but this needs to change to full day! ) so it is a struggle teaching the kiddos! This is a disservice! The parents need to complain to the district! A few Science teachers at my site also have at least 42 students in a classroom. What’s next? Students need to stand up during class because there are not enough seats?! Ridiculous.
Thanks Claycord! Appreciated.
@ Teacher: “What’s next? Students need to stand up during class because there are not enough seats?! Ridiculous.”
From CNN, so it must be true!
https://www.cnn.com/2015/12/10/health/standing-desks-impact-health-education/index.html
Is there a safety fire code issue? What is the total occupancy allowed per classroom? Could be a fire code violation?? Maybe the Fire Marshal should come do a walk through!
PHMSMom, great question… So I tried to find out… Seems there is conflicting info even within CA State Law (I HOPE Claycord will allow this space needed for the links.) Occupancy space can be calculated with varying interpretation and there does not seem to be much on class enrollment limits for 9-12 grades. It might be a union contract issue. I copied and pasted the links just to show the confusion…. I too would like to know the actual answer and not a bias determination. (that last line was for the MDUSD Union Members who are talking strike).
Your question may be the same as “How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie-Pop?” / “The world may never know.
https://www.acgov.org/cda/planning/generalplans/documents/LVK_Appendix_D_Methods_For_Determining_Concentrations_of_People.pdf
https://www.dgs.ca.gov/-/media/Divisions/DSA/Publications/interpretations_of_regs/IR_A-26_rev05-30-19.ashx?la=en&hash=AD53FFC018A7D3B261186E57C5AD3B0D4487A635
https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/pa/cefcsp.asp
https://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/sd/dr/cefteachavgclssize.asp
ps: notice that one website even has the word Interpretation in its link….