By EMILY BLOOMFIELD
What is all this talk of broken promises to the education coalition? And why does it matter?
Imagine if last year you agreed with your boss to not only forego a raise (again), but take a pay cut in order to help your company through rough financial times. Your boss promises that, in exchange, he will restore your pay next year, and if the company finances improve, increase it. Additionally, he might finally repay promised foregone salary increases from previous years.
This year rolls around and your boss says he still has not solved his financial problems, even though revenues have risen. You will not get back your foregone salary, not be repaid lost earnings from prior years, but, by the way, you will now have to pay for all of your benefits. You will get some small cost of living adjustment, but, oh, your boss will have the right to cut your salary mid-year, in any year, if the company balance sheet is below forecast.
This is analogous to Gov. Schwarz-enegger’s proposal for public education. Last year, a statewide coalition of educators — PTA, teachers, school boards and administrators — like the employee above, played the good citizen, stepping up and agreeing to do their part to help the state work its way out of a large budget deficit. The coalition last year voluntarily made an agreement with the governor that public school children would forego $2 billion owed to them under Proposition 98, a voter-mandated guarantee of funding for public education, thus suspending Prop. 98 for that year alone. Actually, as the state owed schools another $900 million from previous years of under-funding according to Prop. 98 formula, the reduction was more like $2.9 billion. In exchange, the governor promised the education coalition that this year, as the economy continued to grow and revenues rose, he would repay this amount. He would also return to the Prop. 98 guarantee which mandates that 40 percent of state revenues go to K-14 public education. Our students in public schools were counting on this because, including cuts prior to the governor’s arrival, California schools have suffered more than $9.8 billion in cuts (+$1,500/pupil) over the last four years.
This year, in presenting his budget, Gov. Schwarzenegger has broken his word. He has announced that even though revenues have increased, he does not intend to repay the $2 billion. Furthermore, he proposes to suspend Prop. 98 again and hold increases in spending to below the inflation rate, thus denying districts another $2.4 billion owed to them as a result of General Fund revenue growth. Additionally, he wants to shift the state’s share of contribution to teachers’ retirement funds to school districts, thus including them under Prop. 98. This amounts to an additional $469 million cut. Adding insult to injury, he proposes gutting what is left of Prop. 98 by introducing a devastating and destabilizing Constitutional amendment that would weaken school funding protections by allowing multiple rounds of mid-year, across-the-board cuts with no hope of repayment.
Why does it matter? Unlike in the example of the maltreated employee, who can seek work elsewhere, our children cannot switch states. They are bearing the brunt of these cuts in the form of overcrowded classes, fewer course offerings, cuts in the number of teachers, guidance counselors, nurses, librarians, the arts, sports, remedial programs, tutoring and more.
A report by the Public Policy Institute of California identifies California as ranking highest in academic standards and accountability systems, but lowest in financial resources. RAND Corp.’s recent study of California’s K-12 school system shows that it has fallen from a national leader 30 years ago to its current ranking near the bottom in every objective category, including per-pupil funding, class size, teacher salaries and test scores — though thankfully not the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. It is ironic that when we should be aligning our funding with our high standards, the governor proposes moving in the other direction. He needs to keep his promise. Rather than targeting our children — and our future workforce — for continued cuts and weak performance, he could establish his legacy as being a man of his word and rebuilding California’s once great public education system. (Emily Bloomfield is the president of the board of education for Santa Monica- Malibu Unified School District.)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 22, 2005. Read the original PDF.