Wider Freedom Sought for Many Schools

California school administrators are pressing the Davis administration to allow certain public schools to operate like their charter counterparts by freeing them from myriad state regulations.

School administrators contend that they need the greater flexibility enjoyed by charter schools to respond to $843.5 million in education cuts that Gov. Gray Davis proposed last month to help the state close a possible $14-billion budget deficit.

Administrators are seeking legislation to hold certain kindergarten through 12th-grade school districts--those in which about half of the schools are meeting Academic Performance Index growth targets--to the same relaxed statutory requirements as charter schools.

Charter schools are public institutions funded by tax dollars but freed from most state regulations.

They are allowed to operate independently of a school district and to tailor programs to succeed with students in ways that traditionally governed schools have not.

Kevin Gordon, executive director of the California Assn. of School Business Officials, said providing the same flexibility to noncharter schools would make it easier for some districts to absorb the governor’s proposed cuts.

Districts receiving state money to purchase new computers, for example, could instead repair and maintain existing machines.

“The fact of the matter is we have very little flexibility in the way that we respond to the budget cut proposals,” said Bob Wells, executive director of the Assn. of California School Administrators.

The Davis administration is considering the proposal, according to a spokeswoman.

Wells contends about $400 million of the governor’s proposals affect districts’ general fund budgets.

The proposals include eliminating $250 million to help cover schools’ rising energy costs and $40 million to equalize funding between rural and urban schools.

Wayne Johnson, president of the California Teachers Assn., voiced concern over expanding charter school exemptions.

He added that he does not believe many of the cuts proposed by Davis will affect districts as administrators contend.

Johnson noted that some proposals would delay or dash funding for new programs that have yet to start, while another would account for districts’ changing needs.

“Energy is costing a lot less than anyone anticipated,” Johnson said.

“If there’s a rush to do this it could invite abuses,” said Bruce Fuller, head of Policy Analysis for California Education at UC Berkeley.

Gordon described the cuts facing schools as real.

“They are made more difficult given the fact that at this point in the school year so much of the money has either been committed or spent,” he said.

The proposed change, according to Gordon, would be temporary and would last two years at most.

Other proposals submitted by school administrators to Davis and legislative leaders include increasing the percentage of funds that districts can transfer from one program to another.

They also want to ease rigid caps on kindergarten through third grade class-size reduction, from the current limit of no more than 20 student to an average of 20 students.