Wilson’s Education Plan Wins Strong Bipartisan Support

Anticipating that education will dominate the upcoming political year, Gov. Pete Wilson this week signaled that he is ready for a war with teachers, at least a skirmish within the Republican ranks and intense negotiations with the Legislature’s Democratic leadership.

But the extent of bipartisan support for Wilson’s education proposals also offered a surprisingly friendly start to an election year in which this issue is expected to help decide which party will control the Legislature as well as the governor’s office.

The harmony was also underscored Friday by the disclosure that Wilson and Sen. Dianne Feinstein--a prospective Democratic candidate for governor--are negotiating the possibility of merging their two competing proposals for educational reform ballot measures.

Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, the likely GOP nominee to succeed Wilson, was also represented at the recent talks and he was guaranteed a sponsoring role if a bipartisan accord can be reached. Officials said, however, that it appeared that key differences and limited time to qualify the measure will prevent the merger.

In the Legislature on Friday, education advocates and Democrats also agreed that the 1998-99 budget proposal Wilson released Friday identifies the most pressing problems for education this year. In fact, several of the ideas are taken from their own wish lists.

But even if they have agreed on much of what needs to be done, they will debate how to do it.

“On the whole, this is a good proposal for California,” said Assemblywoman Kerry Mazzoni (D-San Rafael), chairwoman of the lower house’s education committee. “I think we have great potential for having a very good year because . . . every member is going to want to say that they are on the train that is going to turn around the schools in California.”

There are certainly items in the governor’s education package that are not popular with Democrats.

Mazzoni and others predicted a quick rejection of Wilson’s proposal for “opportunity scholarships,” a $52-million chunk of the governor’s budget proposal.

That program would provide vouchers to students in the schools that rank among the state’s bottom 5% in performance. The students could use the vouchers, worth about $3,900, to pay for their attendance at another public school--or a private one.

Democrats have rejected similar plans twice. This time, Wilson said, it was scaled back to target 15,000 students and clarified to explain how the eligible schools would be selected.

Wilson said the idea of vouchers--a high priority this year for conservative political organizations nationwide--would be an incentive for poor schools to improve as well as a way to rescue students who are not being taught properly. But Democrats complained that such a move would remove state money from California public schools that are already suffering the most.

The governor’s budget was particularly provocative for teachers, with several proposals aimed at making them more accountable for their time and performance.

Wilson would prevent high school teachers, for example, from being paid for the few minutes between each class period.

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Teachers say that time is often spent with individual students who have questions about classroom discussions. But state Secretary of Child Development and Education Marian Bergeson said Friday that the governor considers that to be non-instruction time similar to lunch.

The change, if passed, would force some schools to lengthen their days so teachers would not face pay cuts.

Wilson also recalculated the cost-of-living adjustment built into the education funding formula--which determines how much each school gets from the state--lowering it from about 4% to 2.2%. Wilson aides said the previous calculation was artificially high and the new amount is a more accurate reflection of today’s inflation levels.

The change also saved $500 million that would otherwise have been spent on cost-of-living raises--primarily for teacher salaries.

Democrats in the Legislature said they expect the governor’s instruction time and cost-of-living proposals to be rejected. “I would counter that teachers are already underpaid,” Mazzoni said.

Expected to be one of the hottest topics for debate is Wilson’s plan to eventually prevent the “social promotion” of failing students. Although the governor’s budget proposal includes $10 million this year for remedial summer reading instruction to help those who fail, students would not immediately be held back.

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In the future, Wilson hopes that students in a number of grades would have to pass a year-end evaluation to advance. The students would be helped in summer school, then have a second opportunity to take the evaluation test and advance with their class.

Democrats, including some of the candidates running for governor, have joined Wilson in citing the problem of passing students who are not ready. There are strong differences, however, on how and when the students should be tested.

In contrast, Democrats have offered strong support for a bond plan that the governor hopes will generate nearly $16 billion over the next six years for construction of school classrooms to accommodate a sharply increasing student population. The program--half paid by the state and half from local school districts--would begin with a $2-billion bond on the ballot in June.

About the only quibbling about the bond plan has come from Republicans opposed to a provision that would reduce the vote threshold for passing a local school bond from two-thirds to a simple majority. Wilson said this week that he hopes to reach a compromise threshold somewhere between 50% and 60%.

On several other issues, educators and legislators predicted broad support for the governor’s plan. Those include:

* $350 million to extend the school year from a statewide minimum of 173 days of instruction to a minimum of 180 days.

* A $125-million program to train and evaluate veteran, beginning and specialized teachers.

* $180 million in grants to every public school for a variety of possible uses, such as new computers or other instructional aids.

* $31 million to extend preschool access to every 4-year-old from a family that earns less than the federal poverty level.

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Where the School Money Goes

The governor’s budget calls for a 4% boost in funding for public schools. California’s education spending for kindergarten through grade 12:

Classroom instruction: 61%

General administration: 7%

Maintenance: 9%

Instructional support: 10%

Pupil services: 5%

Others: 9%

Note: Instructional support includes principals and curriculum. Pupil services include counselors, nurses, attendance staff and libraries.

Source: Governor’s budget (1995-96 data reported by schools).