Windfall Has Strings Attached

With California’s economy booming and politicians seizing on the popular election-year issue of education, public schools reaped big rewards from Sacramento’s annual summer round of deal-making. But the education lobby also suffered setbacks.

What the schools got was indeed substantial, and in some cases historic. Tops on the list was a $9.2-billion school bond measure placed on the Nov. 3 ballot, the largest in state history, to fund sorely needed construction on public school and college campuses. Of that sum, $6.7 billion would go for elementary and secondary schools. Of course, none of the money will materialize without the approval of a simple majority of state voters.

The budget signed by Gov. Pete Wilson on Aug. 21 boosted the overall school budget from state and local sources to about $34 billion, as per-pupil spending rose to nearly $5,700 a year, up more than $240 but still below the national average.

“It was a banner year for education,” said Marian Bergeson, Gov. Wilson’s chief schools advisor.

Several education advocates also said an important precedent was set when, for the first time, overall spending reached a level substantially above the minimum guaranteed by state law. The extra money was at least $380 million a year, according to the governor’s office, and could reach nearly $600 million when the dust settles.

But it was also a season of compromise for many public school interest groups, and in some cases, defeat. The state bond measure is a case in point.

Carefully crafted to win the approval of the conservative Republican minority in the state Legislature, the statewide measure omitted reforms to local school bond elections that education groups had long sought. Namely, the groups wanted to reduce the required margin of victory in local elections to a simple majority instead of a two-thirds majority.

At the same time, pleasing the Republican governor, the measure limited the ability of local governments to slap fees on housing developers to pay for new school construction.

Because of those concessions, the California School Boards Assn. and some other groups opposed the version of the school bond that passed the Legislature, even though the influential California Teachers Assn. supported it.

But whether the school board group will oppose the bond measure now that it is on the ballot is another question. Kevin Gordon, a lobbyist for the group, said it might stay neutral during the campaign.

A little-noticed but important aspect of the budget was the ongoing debate over the degree of Sacramento’s control over school spending. Tucked into the budget legislation was a cost-of-living increase for schools of 3.95%--up significantly from the 2.18% that Wilson had proposed. The padded percentage will add up to many millions of dollars that local school districts can spend with little or no strings attached by state law. In addition, the budget calls for individual schools to get $180 million in grants to spend however they please. Each of California’s 8,000 campuses will get at least $10,000, with some getting more through a per-pupil formula.

But much of the new funding does come with strings because that’s how Sacramento influences education policy in the two decades since local school agencies lost much of their taxing power.

Among the new initiatives is a $44.5-million measure to limit class sizes to 20 students each for ninth-graders in English and at least one other subject, probably math. That program is expected to begin in most high schools starting in the spring semester, and could reduce crowding significantly. Many high school classrooms have well over 30 students. Previously, the state had limited class size in primary grades.

There were measures to spend $1 billion on textbooks over four years, starting with $250 million this year. School libraries got an infusion of $159 million to update aging collections. Science labs got $71 million for new equipment.

And in a reform significant to many parents who object to student-free “teacher days,” the school year will be lengthened to a minimum of 180 days of classroom instruction. The state ponied up $195 million to give teachers three days for professional training outside the school calendar. Many education experts, though, doubt that is enough, given the significant policy changes of recent years that the state expects teachers to master and the entry of many new teachers into the school system.

*

In a package of follow-up budget bills, Wilson was expected to sign an initiative to give educators more incentive to hold students back for a grade instead of promoting them if they fail to meet basic standards. Some predicted that hundreds of thousands of students could be affected by the change. The state will also provide $105 million, Bergeson said, to help fund remedial classes for students who seek to avoid repeating a grade.

The governor, however, was expected to veto a follow-up bill authored by Republican state Sen. Tim Leslie that would launch a new system of “accountability” for school performance. The governor, in opposition to several education groups that backed the Leslie bill, said it failed to provide strong penalties for schools that are flunking.

The budget also fueled an ongoing war between Wilson and state Supt. of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin, a Democrat, for control over key elements of the education bureaucracy. In late August, Wilson cut $8 million from the $35-million state Department of Education budget under Eastin’s control.

The governor insisted that Eastin transfer a team of lawyers to the state attorney general’s office as one condition for restoring most of the vetoed funding. According to Eastin’s staff, Wilson also wanted Eastin to cede control over litigation strategy to the State Board of Education, among other concessions. Eastin refused.

The upshot, according to Eastin spokesman Doug Stone, is that the education agency must cut about 120 out of 1,200 positions--including about 90 positions currently filled. Stone said Eastin is hoping to work out a new deal after the lame-duck Wilson leaves office.

That presumes Eastin wins reelection in November. She faces Republican Gloria Matta Tuchman for the technically nonpartisan office.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Education Spending

The 1998-99 state budget signed Aug. 21 by Gov. Pete Wilson earmarks $23.8 billion for the K-12 public school system, in addition to about $10 billion from local sources.

Some of the highlights:

* $195 million to lengthen the school year to at least 180 days, from what had been an average of about 175 days, and to give teachers three additional days for professional training.

* $250 million for new textbooks to go with higher academic standards. An additional $750 million is allocated for textbooks in the next three years, raising the total investment to $1 billion.

* $44.5 million to reduce the size of ninth-grade classes in English and one other core subject.

* $159 million for new school library books and $71.5 million for new laboratory and science equipment.

* $180 million for grants to each of the state’s 8,000 schools, using a per-pupil formula, with each school getting at least $10,000 to spend as it wishes.

* $95.6 million for various teacher support initiatives, including $67.8 million to expand a popular program that helps new teachers.

* A $241 increase in per-pupil spending, from $5,454 to $5,695.

* The Legislature and Wilson also put a $9.2-billion bond measure on the Nov. 3 ballot to finance public school and college campus construction.