Prop 30 Pass or Fail…Will CUSD Prevail?

With the election closing in, the chasm between the budget deficit is this…CapoUSD faces a $31 million shortfall. IF Prop 30 passes, and a $52.5 million shortfall if it doesn’t.  Even IF it passes, where is the district going to cut?  Every year we watch the degrading of our government school system.  With all the hand wringing about funding for AP tests, class sizes, auditoriums, stadiums and swimming pools, and all the parent education about bullying, drunk driving, drug overdoses, and internet safety…where is the focus anymore? 

This time of year…the panic of having a college bound senior sends families through our doors.  Despite having 18 years to plan…taking college preparatory AP, IB and honors classes, families seem surprised that college is less than 10 months away, and they have NO idea what to do.  Or where the money will come from.  They  go en-masse running towards the financial cliff, with no one attempting to stop them.

Most schools in this area emphasize college…yet little to no education is done by PTA’s  or school foundations on the increasingly complicated process of admissions and funding college  San Clemente HS is the only one in this area that even attempts to addresses this…Sadly, most families priority is sports and recreation oriented  rather than college.  Is it any wonder we are falling further and further behind in global education ranking?

Every year, our presentations are requested at  only a few of the local schools to speak to families about college planning.  Sadly, the priorities of most parent groups in the area is not on college, but instead the focus is placed on school musicals, dance competitions, PTA Reflection winners...ignoring the need for college planning.  Instead, the emphasis is on “getting them out alive” with priority given to DUI awareness, Internet safety, drug use, cyber and school Bullying, etc. 

High schools are supposed to get a student ready for life afterwards, whether that is college or work.    We are told by the districts, and parent groups that there are too few resources.  Every year, students are going to graduate from high school…prepared or not.  And most are going to live at home, blaming the economy for their lack of job, …when actually, it is a lack of preparation.  And  the “majority” of students going on to a 4-year college seems to shrink by July…presumably after the families get the first bill for tuition, and realize they can’t afford it.  In the meantime, otherwise sane parents blindly go into debt, allowing their students to call the shots.

I just had to vent…as I do every year at this time.

For a report on the 10 Mistakes Parents Make When Planning For College, and a link to the most effective EFC Calculator we have found, go to our website…www.GetCollegeFunding.org.  Also sign up for one of our free local or WEBinars.  If you would like us to speak in your local high school, shoot us an e-mail, at support@getcollegefunding.org.