SACRAMENTO / BRADLEY INMAN : Seeing Ignorance as the Enemy, Business Takes a Stab at Fixing Schools

Almost everyone has an opinion about public education in California, including a group of chief executives from the state’s largest corporations, who have been working quietly with the Legislature to reform the public school system.

Last September, Gov. George Deukmejian signed a school reform bill sponsored by the 92-member California Roundtable. A study commissioned by the Roundtable showed that California public schools had the seventh-highest dropout rate in the nation. The bill, introduced by state Sen. Gary Hart (D-Santa Barbara), appropriated $6.8 million for a “demonstration program to restructure public education.” The funds would be distributed to more than 150 schools and 220,000 students, according to a legislative analysis.

Local school districts are eligible for educational improvement grants if they meet a four-point test:

* They must develop teaching strategies that promote English language skills for all students and also “offer opportunities for proficiency in two or more languages.”

* Once core requirements such as reading and math are met, students in the 11th and 12th grades should have the option to participate in alternative programs such as vocational and technical education, college preparation or specialized performing arts programs. Dubbed the “post-10 option,” a similar program is working in Minnesota, where participating students outperform regular students.

* Districts must develop ways for involving parents in the school’s decisions. The Roundtable report recommended that community boards be formed--including parents and business leaders--at individual schools and that they have legal authority to approve school programs. The bill doesn’t go that far, but it encourages districts to give parents more authority in choosing programs and classes for their children.

* The use of computer technology must be expanded in the classroom. Also, computers should be used to increase teacher productivity by reducing time spent on chores such as record keeping.

Roundtable members have committed to working with school districts receiving grants to help implement the changes.

And what’s in it for business?

“If you take a long-term view of the state’s economy, it’s the people part of the equation that will make the difference,” said Jere Jacobs, assistant vice president of Pacific Telesis Group and a member of the Roundtable. “We are highly dependent on the skills of our young people--not only from colleges but from what happens K through 12.”

‘Political Building’ Succeeds for Architects

The California Council of the American Institute of Architects got a political education four years ago, when Gov. Deukmejian vetoed a measure that would have made it easier for architects to collect unpaid bills. The lessons: Don’t take the governor for granted, be prepared to rev up grass-roots political support and hire well-connected help.

More mature about how things work in Sacramento, the architects had developed a sophisticated political game plan before a similar bill reached the governor’s desk in September. The measure permits licensed architects to place a lien on private property for nonpayment of design services on projects where construction hasn’t begun.

First, the AIA agreed to amend the old bill, even though the governor didn’t seem to leave much room in his 1986 veto message for compromise.

“I have not received any compelling evidence to support the expansion of the existing mechanic’s lien laws proposed by this measure,” Deukmejian said four years ago. He added that design professionals “can sue a property owner for breach of contract, should the owner fail to pay for services rendered.”

Nevertheless, the 1986 bill was amended to exempt residential projects that cost less than $100,000. This change was made to satisfy concerns of the Department of Consumer Affairs, said Judy Sektnan, director of government relations for the AIA. The state agency was worried that homeowners might be threatened with liens for unpaid bills on home repair jobs, she said.

After successfully moving the measure through the legislature, “we began doing some political building,” said Sektnan. The 6,794-member trade group initiated a letter-writing campaign that saturated the governor’s office with tales of woe from architects who were cheated out of their fees. Some 252 letters favoring the legislation reached Deukmejian’s desk.

The final ingredient in the AIA’s political strategy was to make certain that it got the governor’s attention. The architects hired the influential political lobbying firm Nielsen, Merksamer, Hodgson, Parrinello & Mueller, to promote the merits of the legislation in the governor’s office. Noted principals of the firm include Deukmejian’s former chief of staff, Steve Merksamer; Timothy Flanigan, the governor’s former appointments secretary, and former California GOP Chairman Robert W. Naylor.

“Sure they (the firm) helped,” Sektnan explained. “This is a difficult governor to get access to. It’s an important bill, and we wanted to make certain he got all of the information,” she said.

Apparently he did. Deukmejian signed the bill.

Tax Board Revamps Its Sexist Computer

The Franchise Tax Board is installing a new software program that will eliminate sexism in its computer system. The new system will stop singling out the man’s name when identifying how tax refund checks for a married couple should be addressed.

In the past, when a female taxpayer had a different name from her spouse or a hyphenated name, the computer would recognize the wife’s first name but assume that her last name was the same as her husband’s. Some women whose last names differed from their spouses complained about being unable to cash their refund checks.

But for the most part, the change “was a matter of principle,” said Tax Board spokesman Jim Reber. “We had a chauvinistic computer system for 20 years that identified the husband as the primary spouse,” he said.

After more than 10 years of complaints, the board began revamping the computer system this fall. Scheduled to go into effect next year, the change “does away with the stigma of women as second-class taxpayers,” said Rebecca Taylor, vice president of the California Taxpayer’s Assn.