Gov. Gray Davis’ revised budget proposal treated public
education better than local school district leaders had feared, but
many are leery the proposal will still get passed by the state
Legislature.
Gov. Gray Davis’ revised budget proposal treated public education better than local school district leaders had feared, but many are leery the proposal will still get passed by the state Legislature.
“Nothing is definite,” said Jackie Munoz, superintendent of the Aromas-San Juan Unified School District. “… It still has to go through the Legislature and there will be new changes.”
Davis increased primary and secondary school funding for next year by $403 million over his January proposal and emphasized keeping class-size reduction for lower grades and helping special education.
Jean Burns Slater, superintendent of the San Benito High School District, said the change from January’s proposal was because of heavy lobbying and reaction from the original proposal.
“My feeling is he (Davis) shifted because schools gave layoff notices all over the state. It put pressure on him,” Slater said. “… Also, the people devising the revise brought education to the table and tried to craft a solution.”
Lobbying against class-size reduction cuts and the recall effort against Davis also could have contributed to the increase in education funding, she said.
Per-student spending next year would be $6,869, an increase of $161, or 2 percent, from Davis’ January proposal.
More money for districts mean they can rehire some of the teachers that were laid off May 15, local educators said. However, there will still be cuts in programs, including after-school programs and Miller-Unruh reading programs.
“We’re not looking at the meat-ax cuts that might have been,” said County Superintendent Tim Foley.
Even after the adjustments, California’s schools face $1.5 billion in reductions for next year.
One educator in Orange County, referring to the revise, said “We’re going to be hit by a 15-ton truck instead of a 20-ton truck.”
Dean Bubar, director of business and operations at the Hollister School District, said he had apprehension about the revise.
“It’s better than what was forecast in January, but there’s still some concern about whether or not it will get through the Legislature,” he said. “I don’t think (the budget will even get passed on time). There are a lot of large issues.”
Based on information from a conference call Thursday with the state’s County Superintendents Educational Services Association, Foley is positive about the new budget and that the Legislature will approve it.
“I’m feeling really good about the governor’s budget,” he said. “There are indications the Senate and Assembly are going to go ahead and implement the education package the second week of June. I see no major hurdles.”
Foley said he is thankful Davis “made schools whole” for this year or else they would have had to go into deficit spending. But deferring cuts is not a permanent solution.
Saving class-size reduction is a major issue with parents, teachers and administrators across the state, as well as politicians. As of yet, the program has not been cut from next year’s budget.
Davis restored $180 million for class-size reduction in grades kindergarten through third. A bill approved by the Assembly this month relaxes the maximum number of students per classroom in particular grades to 22, with a schoolwide average of 20.
Foley said this is good news because it allows schools flexibility when scheduling classes while still calling for smaller class sizes without eliminating the program or its funding.
“No one wants to lose this program. This helps us save it,” Foley said.
Davis also proposed spending $28 million more to fully fund the state’s expense on special education and an additional $65 million for school accountability programs aimed at raising test scores at the lowest-performing schools.
The state’s education budget takes up the largest share of state spending at 40 percent of the general fund, or $29 billion.
