SEIU 1021 Field Rep to DUSD School Board: 'You Got to Learn How to Wipe Your Own Butt'

In an intense commentary to the School Board, SEIU Field Representative Seth Francois told the board last night that they essentially need to stop waiting for the state to pass its budget and take action.

"If you are waiting for the state to come in and wipe your butt, you are going to be waiting for a long time," he told the board. "You got to learn how to wipe your own butt."

State legislators passed the budget on June 15,  but on Thursday, Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed the adopted budget on the premise that it was unbalanced.

"Unfortunately, the budget I have received is not a balanced solution," Brown wrote in his vetoe message. "It continues big deficits for years to come and adds billions of dollars of new debt. It also contains legally questionable maneuvers, costly borrowing and unrealistic savings. Finally, it is not financeable and therefore will not allow us to meet our obligations as they occur."

Francois told the school board during its regular meeting that they need to be leaders during these tough economic times and to not forget what business they are in - education. He told the board that they shouldn't let the budget get in the way of that.

The issue of the night was whether to include nine physical education instructors and adding 14 instructional aids in kindergarten classrooms.

It's a move that would have cost the district an extra $222,775 for the 2011-2012 school year. Francois' pubic comments were not the only ones of the evening, but were perhaps the most colorful.

The board gave direction to staff to prepare the budget without the additional positions after failing to get a majority vote for going with the budget that had the positions in it. Please check back later for a full write up on the board's decision.

Editor's note: an earlier version of this story misstated that the board passed a budget. The board is expected to pass a budget at its next meeting.