Dr. Sieu: Prop 30 Passes, We Can Breathe a Sigh of Relief

To the ABC Community:

My hope is that everyone had a memorable Thanksgiving holiday recently. I believe that spending time with family and friends is very important in order to reenergize ourselves for the work in front of us each day.

With the passage of Proposition 30 recently, we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. I am grateful to the voters of California for their investment in education. The passage of Proposition 30 will provide the K-16 education community with more than $8 billion in revenue through temporary increases in sales tax and income tax for individuals earning $250,000. Failure of this tax initiative would have triggered an $8 million reduction in ABCUSD budget beginning in January 2013. As a result of its passage, our District will not need to make further budget cuts this year. We have already made $6 million in cuts to this year’s budget prior to Proposition 30 passing.

We are sincerely grateful for the continued support from the ABC community throughout these challenging fiscal times. It has been critical to the success of our District. Academic achievement rates are at its highest levels throughout the District. I believe that the District has set a high bar for schools and they have more than met the academic challenge, despite the fiscal challenges that have been put in our way. The incredible efforts of our students, teachers, parents, administrators, support staff and community serve as an inspiration to us all.

I’m pleased to announce that we have two secondary schools that are eligible for the 2013 California Distinguished School Award. They include Tetzlaff Middle School, an Accelerated Learning Magnet School located in Cerritos and Artesia High School in Lakewood. It is the first time that Artesia HS has been eligible for this statewide recognition in recent years.

On November 13th, Gonsalves ES in Cerritos received the . This program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. Gonsalves is only one of six schools in Los Angeles County to receive this award. It is one of 23 schools from California to receive this award. This award is the highest recognition at the national level. Robert Benko, Principal of Gonsalves ES, Kim Penman and Nadja Jaser-Cendejas, teachers at Gonsalves were on hand to accept the award on behalf of the school in Washington, DC. They received a plaque and flag at the National Blue Ribbon Awards Ceremony.

Dr. Mary Sieu

Superintendent

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