MISSION VIEJO : Parent Leaders Unite to Fight Budget Cuts

Leaders of four Saddleback Valley Unified School District parent groups have banded together to fight Gov. Pete Wilson’s attempt to cut education funding.

Leaders of Citizens Action to Save Education, the Education Foundation, the district PTA council and the Education Council are asking their members to contact legislators and ask them to oppose Wilson’s proposal to suspend Proposition 98, which, district officials estimate, would cost Saddleback Valley $6.9 million over the next two years. Proposition 98, which voters passed in 1988, requires that 40% of general-purpose tax revenue be spent on schools. Any cut in education funding would have to be approved by the Legislature.

The coalition is also planning an April rally in support of the district. The district has an annual budget of $100 million.

“All of us have been looking out for education in our own way, but because Wilson’s cuts would affect the district so drastically, it is important that all of the groups in the district get together to stop this,” said Nancy Hines, co-director of Citizens Action to Save Education, a Saddleback Valley district citizens group.

“We have already sent letters to all of the parents in the district stating the problem and asking for their help, and we have started a letter-writing campaign to the Legislature,” Hines said.

Wilson has proposed that Proposition 98 be suspended to cut $2 billion from next year’s state education budget. Wilson, faced with a deficit that could reach $10 billion within the next two years, has asked that education account for 37.5% of next year’s budget.

Saddleback Valley officials have said the district will have to make drastic cuts in its programs if Wilson prevails. Layoff notices have been sent to 103 teachers and 50 non-teaching employees have already been terminated. Programs such as elementary school music, remedial reading and athletics might be pared or eliminated, they say.

Group leaders said Wilson should look to cut other programs before proposing to make large-scale cuts in education. The passage of Proposition 98 shows that the voters want education to be the top priority for state funding, they said.

“It bothers me that the voters can pass such a measure and a year-and-a-half after it takes effect, the politicians can come back and try to undo it,” said Mike Rehart, president of the Education Foundation, which raises money for Saddleback Valley schools. The Education Foundation as a group has not taken a position on the issue. “But as an individual and as a parent, Wilson’s proposal bothers me,” he said.

Wilson has said that if Proposition 98 is not suspended, he will be to forced to cut an additional $500 million each from programs such as mental health, welfare and other programs for the poor. He has said he will not raise taxes.

Franz Wesner, a spokesman for the governor, said that if Proposition 98 is not suspended, the governor will not have enough flexibility to balance the budget.

“The governor has control over only 8% of the budget,” Wesner said, citing fixed state costs such as wages, pensions and entitlement programs. “We are asking for sacrifice from everybody, including the teachers.”