Dear Whitman Families and Friends, Here is what is happening at or around Whitman Elementary: Madison Cluster Meeting January 12, 2015 @ 5:00 pm Madison High School Rm 101 Here community representatives from schools in the Madison Cluster meet to get updates from the district as well as hear from community partners on programs available to the community. Whitman PTA’s Parent Engagement Night January 13, 2015 @ 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm Whitman Elementary Auditorium Do want to become a more effective advocate for your children? Do you want to have more involvement in what is happening with your child’s education? Do you want more of a say in your child’s education? Then the SCHOOL SMARTS PARENT ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM is for you!! The School Smarts Parent Engagement Program is an award-winning, research-based program that helps parents help their children succeed in school. It is provided to you free of charge by your PTA Come to the kick-off event next Tuesday at 5:30pm. There will be free food, a craft activity and all the information you need to enroll in the SCHOOL SMARTS PROGRAM. Your children are welcome at this event. Mission Federal Banking Day Every Wednesday at 8:30 am in the Lunch Arbor Mission Federal is in need of volunteers to take over the banking day program. If you are interested, contact the school or Whitman PTA. Martin Luther’s King Jr. Holiday January 19, 2015 No School Family Science Night January 23, 2015 @ 5:30 pm Whitman Auditorium Join Whitman Elementary for some fun with science. Light refreshments will be available! STEAM Saturday School January 24, 2015 if you student was absent from school, they may qualify to attend this fun-filled school day. Governor Releases 2015-2016 Budget On January 9, 2015, Governor Jerry Brown released his 2015-2016 proposed budget. K-12 education and community college districts are expected to receive an increase in funding. This is attributed in part to an improving economy and Proposition 30. Increase in funding is also due to the fact that K-12 education and community college districts are receiving “repayments” after years of cuts as mandated by Proposition 98. Proposition 98 states that these entities get first priority so-to-speak after years of poor economy (University of California and California State University systems are not funded by Proposition 98). School districts will also expect to see an increase in funding through the Local Control Funding Formula (the new 2013 funding formula to increase funding to qualifying districts that serve English Learners, Foster Youth, and Low-Income students). According to the proposed budget, the K-12 Education and community college will see an increase of $18.4 billion and this equates to approximate $2,600 per student above 2011-2012 levels for K-12 students. Funding for education is not quite out of the woods as the funding is expected to decrease once the short term tax increase (ending in 2016) and taxes on the states wealthiest residents (ending in 2018) comes to an end from Proposition 30. In the coming weeks, various organizations will be analyzing the proposed 2015-2016 budget and giving their thoughts (such as EdSource <http://edsource.org/2015/education-funding-surges-in-governors-budget/72662#.VLCddifEglM?utm_source=Copy+of+John%27s+email+Jan.+10%2C+2015&utm_campaign=Daily_10-17-14&utm_medium=email> ). You can review the proposed budget here <http://www.ebudget.ca.gov/FullBudgetSummary.pdf> . If you want to find out more about the state of California’s education, consider registering for the California State PTA’s Legislation Conference being held on February 9 – 10. In addition, the Ninth District PTA will be conducting their annual Sacramento Safari in conjunction to the conference where they’ll be leading a team of volunteers to meet with legislators. To find out more about the CA PTA Legislation conference go here. Have a Fabulous Week!!! Whitman PTA
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