Forcing Superintendent Marten and Board Trustees to face the Truth

San Diego Unified School District Superintendent Cindy Marten and Trustees Richard Barrera, Kevin Beiser, John Lee Evans, Mike McQuary and Sharon Whitehurst-Payne have repeatedly proven they all lie to SDUSD Parents, Students, Employees, Communities and Taxpayers.

At the Board Meeting tonight, that legacy of lies and deception will reach a new heights as the Superintendent and Trustee Con Artists FULLY responsible for the 2017, 124 Million Dollar Financial Management Disaster attempt to convince SDUSD Stakeholders of 2 key lies.

Here is the District Deeds Primer for those lies:

Superintendent and Trustee Con Artists – BIG LIE #1

The $124 million dollar deficit was due to a “structural deficit” caused by others outside of the SDUSD and not by financial mismanagement of Supt. Marten and Board of Education.

District Deeds – BIG TRUTH #1

There has been NO “structural deficit” since 2012. The $124 million dollar deficit was due to a COMPLETE lack of Governance and Accountability by the SDUSD Board of Education over a Superintendent Cindy Marten spending spree that ballooned expenses and created a 124 million dollar deficit today…a TRUE financial mismanagement SCANDAL!

On February 20, 2017, the day BEFORE the Board meeting last week, according to Fox 5 San Diego Supt Cindy Marten sent the following 3 lies in a letter to SDUSD Parents and Families:

• “Every budget solution is aimed at eliminating our structural deficit and putting the district on sound financial footing into the future.”

• “The shortfall is due to a variety of factors, including rising pension costs, labor market pressures and less than expected state support,” Marten said.

• “Despite these challenges, we will balance the school budget this year, as we have every year since I became Superintendent.”

A J-Curve Chart from a recent Voice of San Diego article by Ashley McGlone clearly proves that Marten is lying.

It is very clear when you look at this curve that it is NOT a structural deficit that occurred but a financial SCANDAL created by an unbridled spending spree by Marten sanctioned with ZERO governance by the Board of Education AFTER she was appointed in 2013. – District Deeds

Here is how WE read the chart:

Following the GOLD line, you can see that Revenues seriously declined from 2007 – 2012 that FORCED the District to reduce Expenses (the Maroon line) to balance the budget.  The lowering of expenses at that time included layoffs, This is essentially the definition of a “structural deficit” in Government Organizations…lower “Revenue” from taxes due to a recession and forced to make cuts on the lowered tax revenue “structure”.

The compete OPPOSITE occurred when Marten took office in 2013.

Beginning in 2014 and continuing through the present, the Revenue (GOLD line) shows a revenue increase SPIKE upwards…MUCH more Revenue coming in.  The Expense line (Maroon) shows an even more dramatic SPIKE upwards, representing spending outpacing the revenue increase.

In a Government organization, when revenues from a growing economy increase, unless there is a catastrophic event (earthquake, hurricane etc) that grows expenses, there is absolutely NO STRUCTURAL DEFICIT.  For the SDUSD after 2013, any deficit created with a massive revenue increase is caused by NOT managing (or not knowing how to manage) the budget with NO governance by the Board of Education that was elected to do exactly that.

The most recent example of this dereliction of duty by the Board is a few weeks when Marten gave the Board a list of priorities for budget reduction.  The JOB of the Board is to identify financial priorities and then have the superintendent carry it out operationally.  In past years there was long public debates at Board Meetings among trustees as to what layoffs should occur before the 1st reading of the budget.

This time Marten supplied the list and the Board voted 5-0

Typical of this inept Superintendent and this ineffective Board.

Clearly an abdication of authority by the Trustees, disgraceful financial management by the Superintendent and NO accountability by anyone in SDUSD leadership creating a financial scandal to the tune of 124 Million Dollars.

Superintendent and Trustee Con Artists – BIG LIE #2

 SDUSD layoff estimates by the Press, Supt Marten and the Board Trustees range from 400 to 850 total layoffs and only a fraction of the layoffs will become reality. .

District Deeds – BIG TRUTH #2

District Deeds estimates that closer to 1,800 SDUSD employees have been identified to lose their jobs due to the financial mismanagement of Superintendent Marten and Trustees Barrera, Beiser, Evans, McQuary and Payne.  The Superintendent and Trustees have repeatedly lied to SDUSD Stakeholders and the Press about the quantity and impact of layoffs and other cuts to minimize their complicity in this financial scandal. 

On Tuesday, February 21, the day of the “special” Budget Board Meeting, Trustee John Lee Evans said the following to Fox 5 San Diego:

Evans said only a fraction of those layoffs will become reality. “We’ve eliminated certain positions,” Evans said. “We’ve eliminated between 400 and 500 positions based on needs these particular schools have.”

Fox 5 San Diego followed up with an 833 layoff number and the San Diego Union Tribune pitched in with an 850 layoff guesstimate.

District Deeds painstakingly reviewed 8 spreadsheets provided within the Agenda item H1 for tonight’s Board of Education meeting.

The following are the spreadsheet totals including who is on the lust and the total layoffs on the list:

• PKS (Certificated Teachers and Staff) –  891 Layoffs
• Non-Represented Managers (Executive Directors and others) – 7 Layoffs
• Confidentials (Supervising Admins) – 4 Layoffs
• AASD Classified Supervisors – 39 Layoffs
• OSS (Custodial, Food Service, Transportation) – 149 Layoffs
• OTBS (Admins, Secretaries, etc) – 221 Layoffs
• PARA (Safety Officers, Health Techs, Library Assistants) – 450 Layoffs
• POA (San Diego Unified Police) – 22 Layoffs

The TOTAL layoffs is NOT “400 or 500 positions” like Trustee John Lee said…a basic lie.

Or 833 layoffs like Fox 5 San Diego was lied to by the SDUSD Propaganda Department.

Or even the 850 layoffs like the San Diego Union Tribune was lied to by the SDUSD Propaganda Department.

The GRAND TOTAL of estimated layoffs due to the horrific financial mismanagement of Supt. Cindy Marten and Trustees Barrera, Beiser, Evans, McQuary, and Payne is: 

 1783 Layoffs!!!!

Superintendent Cindy Marten and the Board of Education need to be held accountable for this  Grand Total of MISERY caused by their total dereliction of duty.

How many more hard-working employees and their families will have to worry and suffer because of this scandal?

This MUST come to and end.

The District MUST be investigated by the United States Department of Education, the California Department of Education and the San Diego County Board of Education for financial mismanagement.

THe SDUSD Trustees Barrera, Beiser, Evans, McQuary and Payne MUST be censured by the San Diego County and City governments

Supt. Cindy Marten MUST be fired.

Remember that as they LIE TO YOU AGAIN at the Board Meeting tonight.

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