Dogged by opponents, battered by plummeting poll numbers, and victimized by his own off-the-cuff comments, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has been working frenetically to collect enough signatures to put his three remaining anti-education, anti-public employee initiatives on the ballot sometime in November. The governor's latest signature-gathering efforts - which found him in restaurants last weekend in Fresno -- came in the wake of his abandoning his pension proposal. That initiative, if approved by voters, would have converted CalSTRS and CalPERS from stable and predictable defined benefit plans into risky defined contribution programs that would have forced workers to wager their futures on the stock market's performance.
The governor can delay the date of the special election and buy himself some more time to gather signatures. But he has much going against him, including the commitment of 335,000 teachers to defeat his schemes. The governor does appear to be gearing up for the fight. He has accepted the resignation of current Education Secretary Richard Riordan and has appointed Alan Bersin, the lame-duck Superintendent of the San Diego Unified School District, to his top education post. CTA President Barbara E. Kerr said Bersin's appointment is a "disappointment for California students and public schools. His top-down bureaucratic style has divided the community, hurt teacher morale and failed to improve student learning significantly."
On a positive note, two lawmakers - Senate President Pro Tempore Don Perata (D-Oakland) and Sen. Joseph Simitian, D-Palo Alto - said last week they were committed to whatever it takes, including raising taxes, to make sure schools received the funding owed them under Prop. 98. With numerous reports about rising state revenues, schools could be owed some $4 billion, under Prop. 98. The May Revision, the updated budget proposals the governor is set to release around May 13, may contain new estimates of the minimum funding level. Meanwhile, all the governor's initiatives - including his plan to do away with Proposition 98's minimum funding guarantees for schools - are still alive in the Legislature, thus far stalled by intense opposition from coalitions of teachers, parents, and public employees. Here's a quick update.
- ACAx1 4, by Assembly Member Rick Keene (R-Chico), has been heard several times by the Assembly Special Session Budget Process Committee. The hearings have been "for testimony only" with no action taken. The bill - like its paired initiative - poses a major threat to school funding. The proposal would gut Proposition 98's minimum funding guarantee and let the administration cut public education and state programs at least twice in a given year. It would institute automatic cuts in spending - dubbed Robocuts - when projected state expenditures outstrip projected revenues.
- ACAx1 1 by Assembly Member Keith Richman (R-Northridge) remains in the Assembly Public Sector Committee. The bill would decimate public employee pensions by converting both CalSTRS and CalPERS from stable defined benefit plans into 401K style programs with no guaranteed payments. The Assembly Member has authored a second special session proposal -- ACAx1 8 -- that would also do away with defined benefit programs. ACAx1 8 would replace these with defined contribution and "hybrid" plans - Capitol-speak for something other than the stable defined benefit plan public workers and their families depend upon.
- The "merit pay/due process attack" bill, CTA-opposed SCA1x 1 by Sen. George Runner (R-Antelope Valley), has gained a co-author (Benoit) and is still pending in the Senate Education Committee. It would undermine teachers' due-process protections and virtually eliminates seniority as factor.
- Staff of the Assembly District Representation Committee issued a historical report raising concerns about "legislative redistricting bill," ACAx1 3 by Assembly Member Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield). The bill is pending in that committee.