The California Teachers Association has put together an initiative that would raise the state sales tax by a penny and dedicate all of the resulting revenue to education.
But whether the group pulls the trigger on gathering signatures to qualify the measure for a special election ballot later this year will depend on what happens in the next few weeks in budget negotiations between legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"Our State Council of Education (CTA's top governing body) meets late this month and will make the final decision on how we move forward," CTA spokeswoman Sandra Jackson said, "after doing some internal research and looking at what the possibilities are with the governor's proposal."
Schwarzenegger has proposed a 1.5-cent hike in the sales tax for three years, as part of an effort to close the state's gaping $40 billion budget deficit.
The governor's 2-month-old plan has gone nowhere, mainly because tax increases require two-thirds approval of the Legislature, and Republican lawmakers have vowed to fall on their swords before voting for any tax increase.
Another part of Schwarzenegger's proposal would slice $5.2 billion from elementary and high schools and community colleges through the rest of this fiscal year and in the fiscal year that starts July 1.
The CTA initiative would generate an estimated $5 billion to $6 billion a year. Of that, 89 percent would go to K-12 schools, and the rest to community colleges.
The measure would restrict use of the revenue to specific purposes that include class size reduction, funding art, music and vocation education courses, and salaries for teachers and other school employees.
The money couldn't be used for administrative costs, and legislators and the governor couldn't touch the revenue. The money would be allocated to school districts based on their average daily student attendance.
There is little question the 340,000-member group, which is one of the most powerful interests in the state, could muster the money and troops to gather the 433,971 signatures of registered voters to qualify the initiative, and to run a politically credible campaign.
But the budget situation is so murky, it's difficult to handicap its chances with voters, who polls have shown love schools and hate taxes in about equal measures.
"Initiatives generally occur when the Legislature fails to solve the problem," said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento.
"In virtually every revenue proposal (being discussed in negotiations), the sales tax is included. So if we solve the problem, then in all practicality it would be difficult to go to the voters to raise the state sales taxes for education."
Steinberg also said, however, that if no deal is reached and the initiative appears on the ballot, he would "most probably" support it.
Call Steve Wiegand, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 321-1076.
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