The powerful California Teachers Association launched an offensive Monday against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal to suspend the Proposition 98 school-funding measure to help bridge this year's budget gap.
CTA President David Sanchez said his group delivered 10,000 postcards of protest to Schwarzenegger's San Diego office and is prepared to wage a television and radio advertising campaign, if necessary, to fight the suspension.
"We're livid about the possibility that the governor would even consider suspending Proposition 98," Sanchez said.
State schools Superintendent Jack O'Connell said that he, too, is mobilizing educators and parents statewide to fight the governor's plan.
"This would be viewed as a hostile suspension of Proposition 98 and a major step backward for education," O'Connell said.
Proposition 98, approved by voters more than two decades ago, is meant to ensure a minimal level of funding for schools and community colleges. Suspending it would require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature.
Schwarzenegger proposed the suspension last week after rejecting both the Democrats' overall budget proposal, which he said did not cut spending deeply enough, and a separate three-bill package meant to help avoid immediate fiscal repercussions.
The stopgap package was designed to help the state avoid the issuance of IOUs by cutting $3.3 billion from its 2008-09 budget – including $1.6 billion from public schools – before that fiscal year ended at midnight June 30.
Schwarzenegger said the state needs to address its entire shortfall, not just a portion of it. Tense negotiations continue.
Meanwhile, because Schwarzenegger's rejection of the three-bill package failed to achieve the planned $1.6 billion in school savings for last year, the governor proposed suspending Proposition 98 to cut $3 billion from K-14 schools this year.
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, among others, oppose the suspension.
"If the legislators think there's a better way to go about cutting, then he's willing to look at other cuts, but there (have) to be cuts," said Aaron McLear, Schwarzenegger's spokesman.
Opponents contend that suspension of Proposition 98 would lower by $1.4 billion the base used to calculate future school funding.
State law would require that the base be restored eventually, but in the meantime, schools could lose substantial sums, opponents claim.
State finance officials counter that schools would not suffer in the long run and that federal stimulus funds would help ease any short-term pain.
The damage could depend, in part, on how quickly the state recovers from recession.
Schwarzenegger officials note that the governor's rejection of the three-bill package had a separate – and beneficial – impact on schools by resolving a legal dispute by assuring that they be compensated in coming years for more than $8 billion in previous budget cuts.
Call Jim Sanders, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5538.
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