Davis Ally Will Wait and See on Education Plan

The state’s largest teachers union extended Democratic Gov. Gray Davis’ political honeymoon Sunday, voting neither to support nor oppose his education reform agenda although it contains several provisions that the union’s leaders insist must be changed.

The organization’s governing body, meeting at a hotel near Los Angeles International Airport, agreed to take a “watch” position on the four laws that Davis is pushing during a special legislative session on education reform. The four bills would create a high school graduation test, build a school performance index to reward success and punish failure, launch a reading improvement campaign, and establish a system of peer review for teachers.

The 285,000-member California Teachers Assn. was one of Davis’ major supporters, contributing more than $1 million to his campaign. But since Davis won overwhelmingly in November on a platform that stressed education reform, there has been speculation about whether the powerful union would be a helpful ally or would stand in the way.

During the first meeting of the organization’s governing body since the election, CTA executives pleaded with representatives to drop the pugnaciousness that has been the union’s hallmark during Republican administrations.

“We must work toward cooperation, not conflict,” said Carolyn Doggett, the CTA’s executive director. “We must be about problem solving and finding solutions.”

Each of the bills that Davis is backing is controversial in some way and is likely to face Republican opposition. But CTA officials are convinced that with a Democratic majority in both houses of the Legislature and the public eager to see schools improve, all of them will pass. Only the details remain in doubt, they said.

“We must not be put in the position of trying to kill these bills,” Doggett said. “If we do that, we’ll get the bills in the worst possible form because we will be excluded from the conversation.”

But some state council representatives said compromise amounted to surrender, at least in the case of the peer review bill.

That bill would set up the nation’s first statewide system in which teachers would evaluate the performance of peers who school principals believe are not succeeding. But some teachers are concerned about losing the union’s help in protecting them from unfair dismissals. And many teachers fear that such systems create fear and tension among faculty who need to work well together.

“We’ve been told we need to play ball and pick battles that are important and for a lot of us this is a very big battle,” said Marc Knapp, president of the San Diego Teachers Assn. “We need to stand up for our principles. We need to send a message that this is as far as we go. Otherwise, we’ll continue to do what’s expedient, right into extinction.”

After about 25 minutes of intense back and forth, the council voted to watch the peer review bill as it progresses rather than launch an effort to block it. A similar, though shorter, discussion preceded a vote with the same result on the accountability bill. That bill calls for rewarding schools that improve their scores on a performance index that includes test scores, attendance, graduation rates and other measures.

Significantly, no one argued in favor of any of the four measures on its merits. Rather, speakers either favored trying to kill the bills or to take the more politically advantageous stance of working with Davis and legislators to amend them.

“We can argue this thing to death . . . but if we take an ‘oppose’ position on the bills, the press will be able to paint us as educational obstructionists,” said Paul Schnaubel, a teacher from the San Diego County district of Mesa-Spring Valley.

Michael Bustamante, a spokesman for Davis, welcomed the CTA’s positions on the bills.

“The governor’s four educational proposals are a recipe for turning around California’s education system,” he said. “It’s encouraging that they’re willing to work with the governor to ensure that the proposals get passed.”

Since his election, Davis has made several gestures of friendship toward the CTA.

He appointed CTA President Lois Tinson and two other CTA members to a panel that helped write his education package. Last week, Davis and his education secretary, Gary Hart, invited CTA lobbyists and executives to his office for a wide-ranging discussion on ways to improve the quality of teaching in the state.

Pete Wilson, Davis’ predecessor, did not invite CTA officials to his office during his eight years as governor.

Tinson said Sunday that she was concerned about the cost of some of Davis’ proposals, which add up to $441 million. And she urged him to not rush things. But she added that she was pleased with his efforts so far. “He has said that education is his first, second and third priority and you can’t ask for anything more than that,” she said.

John Hein, the CTA’s chief lobbyist, said Sunday’s votes showed that the CTA could adjust to the change.

“Dealing with people . . . you supported requires slightly different tactics than dealing with someone who was out to kill your organization, which is what Wilson wanted to do,” Hein said.

Davis and CTA officials agree on another point--that the public’s patience with the quality of the state’s public schools is wearing. Graduation rates are lower than those in other states and so are test scores in reading and math.

In an interview last week, Davis stressed that it was time to seize the moment and fix public education or else face the possibility that voters will pass an initiative to enable children to attend private schools at public expense.

A poll conducted this month by the Public Policy Institute of California found that 53% of the state’s adults favor vouchers compared to 42% who are opposed.