San Diego Unified school officials are demanding Sacramento lawmakers give the district its fair share of federal economic stimulus money. KPBS Reporter Ana Tintocalis has more.
The district's top administrators worry most of the $21 million destined for local schools could get siphoned-off at the state level. Visits to Sacramento show lawmakers are already talking about holding on to the district's stimulus money or using it to backfill other cuts.
The district has mounted a legislative and community effort to pressure lawmakers to hand out the money quickly and fairly.
School trustee John Evans is urging people to write letters and make calls.
“We're simply pressuring our legislators and out governor to make sure that when the stimulus money is distributed, that urban school districts are not penalized,” Evans said. “And what they need to do is hear from real people about how this affects us.”
Large urban school districts like San Diego got hit especially hard in the last budget because state officials cut a special kind of funding that goes towards the neediest students.
Ana Tintocalis, KPBS News.
You can log on to San Diego Unified's special webpage on budget matters to make your voice heard or to get more information.
