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QTEA oversight committee reports clean audit, flags carryover and recommends MOU review
Summary
The QTEA Oversight Committee presented a clean financial audit for FY2015-16 and recommended the district and union revisit the MOU overlay, address under-spending on professional development and technology, and clarify use of carryover (approx. $10.2M).
The Quality Teacher Education Act oversight committee presented its annual report and an independent audit at the April 25 board meeting, reporting that the parcel tax continues to bring in nearly $40 million annually and that the external auditor issued a clean audit with no findings for fiscal 2015-16.
Nathan Edelman, the district's external auditor, summarized the financial statements and told the board the audit required no adjustments: "We completed the audit, and we have no findings," he said, noting the ending balance reported in committee materials.
Committee co-chair Chris Wright and staff outlined key uses of QTEA revenues: the parcel tax currently funds teacher compensation (about $33 million toward teacher pay, with $5.2 million covering a 1.5% teacher raise this year), a district laptop program for educators, and Impact and Innovation grants, among other items. Wright urged the district and the United Educators of San Francisco to review the MOU overlay that sets teacher-compensation percentages (71% for teacher compensation was cited) so QTEA investments better align with student improvement.
Speakers including union representatives pressed the board on carryover. Susan Solomon of United Educators of San Francisco said the committee and the union need clearer explanations for the approximately $10.2 million ending balance and urged the district to maximize QTEA funds for educator pay and access to professional development.
Committee members also flagged under-spending in professional development and certain technology allocations and suggested easing barriers so teachers can use those resources. Staff noted restrictions tied to different funding streams (bond, grants, QTEA) and said the committee is coordinating to ensure those resources are used coherently across programs.
The committee presentation concluded with a request to the board to consider outreach to parcel-tax-exempt seniors and to continue oversight of QTEA spending as contract negotiations and MOU discussions proceed.
