Cathy Parker endorsed by predecessors

To the Editor:

California Assembly Bill 1200, passed into law in 1991, defined a system of fiscal accountability for school districts and county offices of education to prevent public fund mismanagement and school district bankruptcy. The law requires that the 11 school districts in our county adopt multi-year financial projections annually for local district board adoption. After a number of highprofile school district bankruptcies across California in the late 1980s, the California Legislature appointed, through the passage of AB 1200, the county superintendent of schools as the compliance officer of local school district budgets and ordered local school districts to submit their districtapproved budget annually to the county superintendent of schools for final approval or disapproval.

County superintendents of schools are elected to carry out a number of state and local compliance and oversight functions for public education in our county. School district budget oversight is by far the most consequential. It's imperative that the person elected to the highest education seat in Tuolumne County have the necessary experience in reviewing and monitoring school district budgets and operations in order to be a credible compliance officer of the public's trust, and of your tax dollars.

The only candidate on the ballot with proven experience in protecting the public's trust in the operation of school district budgets, programs and countywide educational services is Cathy Parker. Re-elect Cathy Parker.

Margie Bulkin, Twain Harte County Superintendent of Schools

(2016-19), retired. Joe Silva, Sonora County Superintendent of Schools

(2004-15), retired.