O.C. Educators Learn to Lobby for State Funds

There’s a new breed of school administrator in Orange County.

They are politically savvy. They are legislatively astute. And they are using those newfound skills to fight for more education funds.

Hammered by Gov. Pete Wilson’s threat to slash education’s share of state funding, local school administrators are shedding their academician images. Instead of tinkering with next year’s curricula and making benign trips to local PTA meetings, the new breed of administrator is tinkering with budget figures and lobbying in Sacramento.

“We’re swinging with both fists and kicking with both feet to get our voices heard,” said Jerome R. Thornsley, superintendent of the Capistrano Unified School District, which is facing a $4-million cut from next year’s budget.

With more than 500 school employees countywide threatened with layoffs and budget cuts that could virtually shut down entire programs, school officials say they have no choice but to become highly visible leaders of protests, supporters of letter-writing campaigns, subscribers to legislative computer links and frequent visitors to Sacramento.

“This is the most aggressive campaigning I’ve ever seen by school administrators,” said George Urch, chief of staff for Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove), a member of the Assembly Education Committee. “School administrators are nervous that their districts will be negatively affected by the proposed budget cuts this year. They are forced to be more aggressive.”

That aggressiveness has been spawned by grim news from the Capitol. Wilson, who has proposed cut slash education allocations by $2 billion in the next 18 months, has asked state legislators to suspend Proposition 98, an amendment to the state Constitution that requires at least 40% of state general-purpose tax revenue to go to public schools and community colleges.

Educators have been forced to pay more attention to Sacramento since Proposition 13 slashed property taxes and forced the state to pay for such local services as education, said Supt. Peter A. Hartman of the Saddleback Valley Unified School District, which covers Mission Viejo, El Toro and Laguna Hills.

But now, Wilson’s proposal to suspend Proposition 98 has increased active lobbying by school officials, parents and union officials seeking to keep keep programs intact in the districts.

“We would much rather be visiting schools than calling our legislators to remind them of our position,” said Hartman, whose district plans to cut $6 million from its $100-million annual budget. “But we are desperately trying to save what we have now.”

In the past, educators were “fairly apolitical,” but school administrators have found that they must be politically involved, Thornsley said.

“When I first started as superintendent, we weren’t Democrats or Republicans,” said Thornsley, who has been Capistrano Unified’s superintendent for 15 years. “Now we find ourselves in middle of the political arena, hiring lobbyists for our positions in Sacramento and hiring full-time community relations people to make sure we get messages out to parents and employees on what’s going on.”

Local legislators say they have received hundreds of letters from school officials, parents and others concerned about the proposed cuts.

Umberg in the last two weeks has received more than 300 letters decrying the proposed cuts, Urch said. School superintendents and their representatives within the 72nd District have all made personal visits to Umberg’s offices.

In the Santa Ana Unified School District--where preliminary layoff notices have been issued to about 200 employees and about 140 administrators have agreed to a 1% cut in anticipated pay raises--a strong letter-writing campaign has begun to protest the cuts.

Every week, Supt. Rudy M. Castruita issues a letter to employees detailing the latest status of the education budget battle in Sacramento.

“We have to be very politically astute when dealing with Sacramento,” Castruita said. “We’ve learned we have got to be more visible. I don’t nearly spend as much time in schools and with teachers as in the past. I’m spending more time with school boards and in communication with state legislators and people who might have influence.”

In the Anaheim Union High School District, Supt. Cynthia F. Grennan subscribes to a computer linkup to Sacramento that gives the district updated information on education bills. She has also been actively persuading parents to contact local politicians.

“We got to be strong missionaries for the children,” Grennan said. “Nowadays a superintendent must know the legislators. They must train parents and staff about what can affect them. And they must keep track of anything that affects the children.”

The concerns over education cuts have led the countywide grass-roots organization SOCK (Save Orange County Kids) to sponsor a May 9 rally against the cuts at Orange Coast College Stadium. SOCK organizers have invited state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig, who is expected to attend.

County educators tend to shy away from politically active rallies, said Katherine Neilson, president of the county’s Parents-Teacher Assn. But the cuts are so severe this time, Neilson said, that educators and parents will rally.

“It’s at the point where school administrators don’t know where else to cut,” Neilson said. “There is no excess left. Parents and school officials now find the need to actively campaign for funds and services to benefit our children.”