California entered 2010-11 with a longstanding imbalance between ongoing spending and income. To help close that gap, state policymakers suspended Proposition 98, the minimum funding guarantee for K-12 schools and community colleges. In total, revenues for K-12 schools are down nearly 10% this year compared with 2007-08. Yet more cuts loom as the…

A school district budget is more than numbers. It is a record of a district?s past decisions and a spending plan for its future. It shows a district?s priorities whether they have been clearly articulated or simply occurred by default. And it is a communications document that can tell constituents a lot about the district?s priorities and goals. A…