Wilson School Proposal Sets Off Political Free-for-All : Education: Governor says his five-point plan would improve the system and he calls for an end to the ‘bitter debate.’ Democrats criticize him as a Johnny-come-lately.

Even before the votes were counted in the school voucher election, Gov. Pete Wilson touched off a political donnybrook Tuesday by announcing a five-point plan for education reform and calling for an “end to the bitter debate” over how to make California public schools better.

Speaking to reporters in his office at the Ronald Reagan State Building in Downtown, the governor said his plan would help improve what he called an “erratic” school system that may be able to survive the voucher challenge but still lags far behind in public confidence. Wilson, who has often been at war with the California Teachers Assn., called on all sides in the acrimonious debate to end their bickering.

“Our kids can’t wait any longer for the adults to grow up,” Wilson said. “So let today be the last day of the education wars and the first day of an education solution.”

But Democrats--including two likely gubernatorial candidates--immediately jumped on Wilson, accusing him of political grandstanding and criticizing him as a Johnny-come-lately. They blamed him for many of the ills afflicting the educational system, and said all the proposals in his five-point plan have been floating around for years.

Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, a Democratic gubernatorial hopeful, accused Wilson of using his reform proposals as a way to “cover up” the fact that the special election he called has cost the taxpayers millions of dollars.

A spokesman for state Treasurer Kathleen Brown, another Democrat eyeing the governor’s seat, characterized Wilson’s announcement as “a feeble attempt” to preempt what Brown has billed as a major education address scheduled for Thursday.

Wilson conceded that some of the proposals in his plan are not new, but calling them “ingredients to producing a better educational environment” in California.

His five points included raising educational standards; introducing new technology and making “information highways” available to classrooms; slashing the educational bureaucracy; using merit pay to encourage good teaching, and making schools safer by strengthening drug-free and establishing gun-free zones around schools.

Brown’s spokesman accused Wilson of cribbing the idea for gun-free zones from a Democratic proposal two years ago, and said Wilson was “abdicating” his responsibility as governor by asking the head of a Denver-based education group to work out a compromise on education reform.

Wilson was short on specifics. He said he wants to expand the number of charter schools--those spun away from school district control--from the current 100 to 1,000, and maybe even create “charter districts” free of state control. The governor said he also wants stiffer penalties for those who sell or give guns to minors.

Wilson said he will ask Frank Newman, president of the Denver-based Education Commission of the States, a multi-state group, to serve as an “honest broker” and bring all sides together to hash out reforms. He asked Newman to present recommendations by next August.

However, Wilson offered no specifics on how to pay for the reforms. Asked where the money would come for retooling classrooms for the high-tech age, Wilson said he is still waiting for a report on the subject from the Public Utilities Commission. Returning to a familiar refrain, Wilson said money could be shifted toward reform if the state did not have to pay $1 billion a year educating illegal immigrants.

“Pete Wilson staking himself out as the education governor is absurd,” said Bill Press, chairman of the California Democratic Party. “Wilson’s real five-point plan for education has been apparent ever since he was in office--raise tuition, slash classes, cut kindergartners, lay off teachers and lower standards. He’s the worst governor for education that California has ever had.”

Garamendi, whose Los Angeles office is two floors below the governor’s, said Wilson was “right on these five issues” but that he lacked the leadership to follow through.

“Wilson has sounded the bugle of retreat on education for the last three years and now, while our kids face their educational Waterloo, he wants to wave the flag,” Garamendi said.