Teachers Delay a Stand on Spending Plan

The policy-making council of the California Teachers Assn., meeting in Los Angeles, voted unanimously Sunday to adopt a “watch” position on a proposed amendment to the state Constitution that would liberalize state spending limits.

Before the association endorses the so-called state Constitutional Amendment 1, which would modify the 1979 “Gann Limit,” leaders want drafters of the measure to spell out more clearly guarantees on education financing, said association President Ed Foglia.

The association’s 500-member State Council of Education, which ended its quarterly meeting Sunday, is scheduled to meet again in March.

“If they (those drafting the amendment) carry out what they say they’re going to do and give us what they say they will, I believe that the vote will be favorable in March,” Foglia said.

The amendment, backed by Gov. George Deukmejian and legislative leaders, will be on the ballot in June. If approved by the voters, it would permit the imposition of a 9-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax to improve transportation and ease traffic congestion.

Two months ago, the 200,000-member teachers’ organization had threatened to wage a war to defeat the amendment, believing it could erase many of the gains won by Proposition 98, which was passed by voters in 1988.

The teachers said that the amendment, as originally proposed, had introduced a loophole that would have allowed a reduction in education funds from Proposition 98, which provides that 40% of the state budget must go to schools.