Davis Address Puts Schools at Top of Broad Agenda

Gov. Gray Davis pledged Wednesday to reorganize or even close chronically ailing schools, and he called for a special session of the Legislature to tackle education issues on Jan. 19.

“Nothing we do together in the coming months is more important to the people of California and to me,” Davis said in his prepared State of the State address to the Senate and Assembly.

Davis said that 200 under-performing schools will be selected each year to get more money and other special assistance. Those that shape up after two years will be eligible for additional cash bonuses.

“But those that have shown no significant improvement will face serious consequences,” he said. “These will include dismissal of the principal or reassignment of teachers or creation of a charter school by the parents or reorganization of the school, or even closure of the school or district.

“When an NFL coach has one losing season after another, he gets replaced. Period. End of subject. I say we should be just as decisive when our children’s future is at stake.”

The speech by Davis--the first Democratic governor in 16 years--was dominated by his proposals for improving the state of California’s public schools, which once were the envy of the nation but now lag behind most other states on standardized tests.

He also promised to ease traffic, provide more money to cities to hire police officers, open a new home for older war veterans, control suburban sprawl, more vigorously regulate health maintenance organizations, restore coastal wetlands and clean up Lake Tahoe.

And, in a nod to the labor unions whose campaign contributions helped him win by a landslide in November, Davis promised to restore a requirement that employers pay workers overtime after eight hours work in a day. Under former Gov. Pete Wilson, the law was changed so that workers got overtime only after working more than 40 hours in a week.

Davis, who blamed Wilson’s policies on immigration and affirmative action for a climate of intolerance in California, also vowed to usher in a new era of ethnic harmony.

“In recent years we’ve had too much scapegoating and finger-pointing,” he said. “I believe the time has come for all of us to pull together, not apart. So tonight I propose a four-year moratorium on wedge-issue politics. If we work together, there’s no telling how far we can go or how high California can soar.”

At a time when political partisanship is reaching new heights, Davis called on the Legislature to bring a spirit of cooperation to the Capitol.

“In that spirit, I extend a hand to both sides of the aisle, in the sincere request that we find common ground on behalf of the people of California,” he said. “Join me in ringing in the Era of Higher Expectations. We have much to do and far to go before we can rest.”

Even as he called for higher expectations, Davis warned that global economic turmoil could dampen them.

“We have emerged from recession. We are growing again. We are leading America into the 21st century,” Davis said. “We are, however, not immune from national and international economic conditions.”

While California’s economy continued to expand last year, the recession in Asia cost the state 15,000 high-tech and aerospace jobs. Growth in non-farm employment also slowed, he said.

“To put it succinctly, this year we face budget pressures that require discretion, financial caution and crystal-clear priorities,” he said.

Davis also reiterated his pledge to stiffen California’s ban on assault weapons, and warned anti-abortion forces not to bother proposing any laws restricting abortion rights.

For Davis, who ascended Monday from lieutenant governor to governor, the speech laying out his vision for the state marked the completion of a journey he embarked on more than 20 years ago, when he was Gov. Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown Jr.’s chief of staff.

Not since Goodwin Knight took over from Earl Warren in 1954 has a former lieutenant governor addressed the assembled Legislature, he said.

“Now, I haven’t been preparing for this moment for that long,” he said, joking. “Well, come to think of it. . . .”

The speech was stern but upbeat. Davis pumped his fists for emphasis and the Legislature interrupted him again and again with applause. He even invited levity after his promise to improve water quality at Lake Tahoe got a tepid response.

“You can applaud, that’s OK,” he quipped.