Education advocates in the state Capitol are distributing copies of a position paper that details the steps Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislators should take in order to honor the financial promises they have made to public education.
The Position Paper on the Governor's Proposed Budget 2006-2007
has been issued by CTA and its Education Coalition partners, who together represent more than 1.5 million students, teachers, parents, school employees, school board members, school administrators, and superintendents.
The paper sets out four major points relating to school funding and Proposition 98.
Repay The More Than $3 Billion Owed To Schools.
The paper emphasizes that the governor has a "constitutional obligation to fund Proposition 98 and repay the money that was borrowed from our public schools in 2004." The governor's spending plan fails to provide about $3.2 billion, more than $500 per student, due to schools for the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 fiscal years, Coalition experts point out.
Eliminate the Revenue Limit Deficit.
The Coalition paper notes that the governor promised to give top funding priority - after covering the costs of the statutory Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) and enrollment growth - to eliminate the deficit in basic school funding (revenue limit funding). But as proposed, the governor's budget would only provide enough funding to cover two-thirds of that deficit.
Pay Unreimbursed State Mandates.
The governor promised to give top funding priority - after COLA, enrollment growth, and deficit reduction - to covering the costs of unfunded state mandates, Coalition representatives emphasize. These funds would make districts whole by reimbursing them for the costs of implementing new, required state programs. California law requires the state to provide funding for any new programs it mandates that schools and other local entities implement.
Reject Manipulations of Proposition 98.
The position paper reiterates what Coalition finance experts told reporters during a briefing last month. The governor's budget proposal abandons the commitment made by voters when they approved Proposition 49, the initiative that provides for new after-school programs. Under terms of the initiative, funding for the programs is not supposed to come at the expense of Proposition 98's appropriations for schools. But the governor's budget uses $428 million of Proposition 98 school funds to underwrite the after-school initiative. Coalition representatives emphasize that his action breaks faith with the voters and violates state law.
Evidence of California's failure to fund schools appropriately emerges starkly from national statistics. California ranks 43rd nationally in per-pupil spending, according to Education Week's "Quality Counts 2006" Survey. The state provides a whopping $4,266 less per student than number-one ranked District of Columbia and $1,276 less per student than the national average, after regional adjustments are made.
"The money owed to California public schools is desperately needed to restore class size reduction programs, buy up-to-date textbooks, and attract and retain high quality teachers and other educators," CTA President Barbara E. Kerr has told reporters.