Citizens for A Quality Education

You can show your support of Glendale Union High School District and the upcoming bond election by placing a lawn sign in your front yard. This is one of the easiest ways to take action and show support. In an election like this, your neighbors who don’t know specifics about the district or bond inititative look to people like you. A lawn sign shows the neighborhood you support the district, the bond, and the community.

Don’t worry that your house is out of the way, or your street doesn’t get much traffic. You never know who will happen to drive by and see the sign in your front lawn.

Please give Don DeBusk a phone call. He will deliver the sign directly to you. His phone number is 602-418-3250.

We appreciate your continued support.

Several GUHSD supporters hit the ground running this morning by placing over 550 campaign signs throughout Glendale and Phoenix. This was the first of several planned events to help pass the November 8 bond election.

As part of the citizen’s committee and expressing interest about staying actively involved, we are providing you a list of upcoming activities where we need your help. We are not asking you to do anything unrealistic. The requests are simple and will only take you a few minutes. All we ask is for you to commit to do something with each one.

    Saturday, September 17 – The Annual CFQE Golf Tournament 1:00-4:00 p.m.
WE STILL NEED FOURSOMES and HOLE SPONSORS. Have you signed up yet? Invite a group of friends to join you for a fun day of golf. Would your company sponsor a hole? So you don’t golf? That’s okay. You can still be involved. Pay $25 and join us for dinner afterwards. If you already have plans then forward this email to your friends. Maybe they can golf in your place. Contact Don DeBusk at 602-418-3250 for more information or click here to download the brochure.

    Saturday, September 24- Labeling Postcards  7:30-10:30 a.m.
CFQE has rented Thunderbird High School’s cafeteria where we’ll meet to place address labels on postcards which will then be mailed out to our community. This work is simple, but necessary. We will need many to help out, so bring everyone in your family. The more we have, the quicker we get the job done. Consider inviting you neighbors to join you. What a perfect opportunity to expose them to CFQE. We will be glad to provide them more information about the importance of passing this bond. Please consider finding someone to cover for you if you are unable to join us. Forward this email to your friends. Maybe they can help us too.

    Place a Campaign Sign in your front yard
This is so easy to do, and is one of the best ways to show your support!!! If you live within GUHSD’s boundaries, then you need a sign in your front yard. Simply call Don DeBusk at 602-418-3250 and he will arrange to have a sign delivered to you. Hey, consider asking him to bring you more than one. What a great opportunity to speak to your neighbors about supporting the bond election by asking them to place a sign in their yard to show support.

    Commit to sending an email once a week
Send an email to all your contacts once a week asking them to vote YES on GUHSD’s bond election. Ask them to forward your email on to their contacts. Please include our informative YouTube video link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSiGG_HVWqI. This short video provides all the information you need to know about phase III of the district’s bond projects and the reasons to vote YES. 

This will take us all working together to pass this election. Please help us spread the word about the importance of voting YES. Early ballots will be mailed out soon, so we can’t wait any longer to help our community understand the importance of this election.

Communicate often. If you have Twitter or Facebook, please consider posting something about the election each week. Talk to your neighbors. Talk to the elementary school parents. Tell them you are voting YES and ask them to join you by talking to their neighbors and voting YES. And please don’t forget to talk to your neighbors who no longer have kids in school, because they still vote and we need to help them understand how their YES vote benefits them.

And last, but certainly not least… we need for you to VOTE. Whether it’s by an early ballot or at the poll, please do not miss the opportunity to VOTE YES for Glendale Union High School District’s bond initiative on November 8.

2011 Annual Golf Tournament

Citizens for Quality Education are gearing up for the Annual Golf Tournament and we need your support.

Saturday, September 17, 2011
1:00 p.m.
Coldwater Golf Course
100 N Clubhouse Drive
Avondale, Arizona

Golf Entry Fee (per person)  $100
Guest Dinner (per person)  $25
Tee Box Sponsor  $200
Donation  $350 maximum

For more information, contact Don DeBusk at 602-418-3250

The Glendale Union High School District Governing Board approved the formation of a Citizen’s Committee to study budget and facility issues facing GUHSD. The committee has scheduled community meetings and everyone who lives within GUHSD boundaries is invited to attend one of these important meetings.

Read more…

Tuesday, May 18th is Election Day.  The addition of the one cent per dollar sales tax is critical to the future of education funding in Arizona.  Without the tax, Glendale Union High School District will lose an additional 9.5 million in funding.  What will our schools look like next year if the tax does not pass? Read more…

SupportOurSchoolsAZ.org is hosting a conversation with citizens and elected officials to build a stable and sustainable public education system. You are invited to attend, Monday, April 12, 2010 from 6 pm to 8:30 pm. Location is ASU - West Campus, 4701 West Thunderbird Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85306 in the La Sala Conference Room. To reserve a spot call 602-686-5338. Together we can make education a top priority.

After years of budget cuts, Glendale Union High School District is being forced to do more with less.

Like other Arizona school districts, Glendale Union was called upon in 2009 to reduce operating expenditures to make up for a State Revenue shortfall.  The district was able to save over $2 million in costs through a hiring freeze, soft capital cuts and other program modifications to its maintenance and operations budget for the 2009 school year. Prior to 2009 the district has lost in excess of $27 million in building renewal funding as a result of state budget reductions. The district has relied for over a decade on limited resources from its declining unrestricted capital fund and bond proceeds to maintain its nine high schools.

Fiscal Year 2010 state budget cuts force Glendale Union High School District to cut programs

Budget cuts force Glendale Union to cut programs and increase class size at all nine district high schools.

Glendale Union made significant reductions to its 2010 budget in response to growing concerns over state funding.  In all over 74.4 positions were cut from the 2009 budget to offset anticipated reductions in State funding.  The following is a list of positions lost:

Central Office:

            Administrator                                           1.0

            Clerical                                                   1.0

            Information and Technology                       2.0

            Curriculum Coordinators                            2.4

District Programs

            School within A School                             3.0

Local Schools

            Teachers (increased class size)              20.0

            Instructional Aides                                 20.0

            Media Center Assistants                          9.0

Counselors                                              2.5

Equipment Managers                               9.0

            Counseling Center Assistants                   4.5

In addition to the above staffing changes, the district took the following actions:

·         The district froze salaries at the 2009 salary schedule rates giving no increases for longevity or inflation.  

·         The district reduced all Maintenance and Operation Budget supply lines by 20%,

·         The district eliminated Maintenance and Operation travel budgets,

·         The district cut memberships to professional organizations

·         The district assessed all employees a $100 charge for their individual medical benefits.

·         The district froze all soft capital expenditures

·         The district froze all non emergency building renewal projects.

·         The district has implemented a utility reduction program

·         The district has developed internal sub program using administrators, social workers, mentors and coordinators as instructional subs to reduce sub costs to the district.

·         The district has developed internal sub program using administrators, social workers mentors and the GUEA President as instructional subs to reduce sub costs to the district.

The 2011 school budget is being built now and will be decided upon in the next several weeks. The numbers appear alarming.

Education, from kindergarten to the state universities, could take the biggest hit as lawmakers try to resolve the state’s looming budget deficits.  A temporary 1-cent-per-dollar increase in the state sales tax will be presented to the voters on May 18. If not approved, an alternative budget plan will cut an additional $918 million from the state’s budget, with education - from K-12 to universities - absorbing 60 percent of the cuts.

For Glendale Union additional reductions will amount to approximately 8 million more in program cuts including:

• Loss of all of Soft Capital funding (an additional cut of approximately $1.3 million)
• Loss of all Capital Outlay Revenue Funding (CORL)  (cut of approximately $5 Million)
• The Base Level will be reduced by approximately a 2% reduction in the Base Level (cut of approximately $1.5 Million)

These new cuts will be made on top of reductions already made to district programs.

What can we do to insure that the quality of education does not decrease during these difficult times? 

We are asking parents, teachers, administrators and all concerned community members to join us in getting proposition 100 passed.  Please visit the YES on 100 website today (www.yeson100.com).  Sign up with Citizens for Quality Education at www.citizensforaqualityeducation.com, email your friends, and tell your neighbors.

As we have proven in the past, together we do make a difference.  We cannot afford to allow any further cuts to K-12 education.  Arizona already ranks at the bottom in state per pupil funding.  Show elected officials that you care about the quality of your schools.

The heaviest burden a child can carry is a second rate education.  Don’t let our children pay the price of Budget Cuts. 

Vote YES on 100

Citizens for Quality Education, in support of Glendale Union High School District, urges you to vote Yes on 100. We are a not-profit organization with a primary mission to advocate for a quality education for the 15,000 students attending high school within GUHSD.

Read more…

Glendale Union High School District is dedicated to putting as much money in the classroom as possible and keeping administrative costs low. Help keep this balance by voting YES for the M&O override on November 3.

Please help us get the word out by:
     -Asking your neighbors to vote yes
     -Texting all your friends in the district and ask them to vote yes
     -Email all your friends in the district and ask them to vote yes
     -Ask your friends to talk, text, email and phone their friends

Remember - a YES vote for GUHSD will NOT RAISE TAXES!!

Will you place a Vote Yes sign in your front yard? Call Don DeBusk at 602-418-3250 and he will arrange to have the sign delivered and placed in your yard.

Thank you for your continued support!

www.citizensforaqualityeducation.com
www.guhsdaz.org