By james art On January 22, leaders from the California Department of Education reached the three-city vote for clarification on the latest articles about the California School of Deaf in Fremont. The California State Chief of Public Instructions Tony Thurmond has promised to continue working to find solutions to the school’s financial challenges.
“This school will not close, we will not allow it,” said Turmond. “We are committed to doing everything we can to help this school. The great staff works here and we are grateful for them. We have great students, great families. There is no doubt that the staff deserves to be paid more. We are constantly looking for ways to find the money to support staff and we are committed to it. “
Turmond explained that schools were funded by decisions taken by the Ministry of Finance and the state budget. The California Department of Education (CDE) has almost no ability to influence the financing of salaries or resources of equipment in some way, he said. “But we are ready to overlap and advocate to increase salaries,” said Turmond.
Last year, Turmond sponsored a bill, the SB 1316, directly calling for the legislature and the manager to invest more money in the budget to finance the increased salaries for the staff at the Fremonth School. However, given the state’s deficit last year, the bill did not sign in law.
“But we are still looking for ways to help the state provide more revenue,” said Mermond, “and we will continue to stand up for it because we value the staff there and understand that they are in an area with high costs and they deserve to have there Better compensation. “
From this bill, Turmond says that he has started additional conversations with the Senator and the State Human Resources Department. He also talks directly with interested parents and brainstorming strategies about how to work through the situation.
“It’s been a decades challenge and reaches a critical point,” Turmond said. “But nevertheless, we will not let this school close. This school is so important for students and families. “
Thurmond says he has advocated for the last five years for more funding in different periods for all special schools of the country. “We have stood up to get more money for facilities,” Turmond said. “We got more money to get salaries. We are in one voice in the process and we should not make a decision, but we will not stop until we help the state land better to support these schools. “