Education Groups Join Forces Against Cuts

Fearful that Gov. Gray Davis will push to cut nearly $2 billion from public schools, California teachers unions, urban school districts and other education groups launched a preemptive strike in the looming budget battle Thursday.

The day before Davis was scheduled to release his plan to cut $10 billion from the state budget, education leaders held news conferences during which they signaled that they are prepared for a major battle with the governor if he includes steep reductions in education funding.

Some lobbyists for the groups say the Davis administration told them it intends to cut $1.9 billion of education funding this year. Education leaders said such cuts would be devastating and would have a “ripple effect” of billions more in reductions in subsequent years because of the way California’s education funding formula works.

“We’re looking at what would be an education disaster in the state of California if these cuts are made,” said Wayne Johnson, president of the California Teachers Assn. He said $1.9 billion in cuts could theoretically force 35,000 teacher layoffs or require every school in the state to shut down for more than two weeks.

The public school lobby, with strong allies in the Legislature, will be a formidable opponent for lawmakers favoring such a cut. The teachers union has considerable resources -- it spent $1.2 million to help elect Davis in 1998 -- and is mobilizing its membership to resist the reductions.

As the unions held a news conference in Sacramento with the state Parents and Teachers Assn., the Assn. of California School Administrators and other groups, leaders from the state’s urban school districts gathered in San Francisco to blast lawmakers for considering such a cut.

Caprice Young, president of the Los Angeles Unified School board, said the reductions being talked about would strip up to $250 million from the district in the middle of the year. “We would have to start taking desperate and dire actions,” she said.

Officials from the governor’s office said the education groups are jumping the gun, as the Davis proposal would not even be released until this afternoon.

“It’s tough when a press conference is held devoid of any facts and presented as a fait accompli,” said Hilary McLean, spokeswoman for the governor. “This is a time when a lot of organizations hold press conferences and say, ‘Hey, don’t look at us.’ ”

Indeed, school groups weren’t alone in firing early shots as the battle to close a budget gap of more than $21 billion begins. The League of California Cities and the State Assn. of Counties joined with police and fire groups at a news conference to urge lawmakers not to raid local coffers. Their leaders warned that balancing the budget by slashing funds sent to local governments will probably lead to layoffs of police and firefighters and put various social services in jeopardy.

Though Davis has declined to publicly detail his plan, he is widely expected to announce significant rollbacks in spending on health care for the poor.

But attention turned to education spending last month when the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office reported that schools are receiving $1.9 billion more than the state must spend under the complex financing system established by the voter-approved Proposition 98 of 1988.

Any cut must be approved by legislators, and lawmakers from both parties have said there would be support for such a cut in the Legislature if Davis proposes it.

Taking back $1.9 billion, education lobbyists warn, will have the net effect of cutting school spending by $4.6 billion over the next 18 months because of the way the funding formulas work.

Though the governor declined to say whether his plan includes taking back the funds, he signaled Tuesday that education may have to bear some of the burden of dealing with California’s fiscal crisis, as it accounts for 48% of the state budget.

Officials from the education groups did not offer their own plan for balancing the budget, saying it is not their job. They declined to name other programs the state should cut to spare them the ax, and they also said they did not necessarily favor a tax hike.

They instead called on the governor to present a comprehensive plan to deal with the fiscal crisis that puts everyone on a level playing field, instead of proposing cuts piecemeal, starting with them.

“It’s outrageous to us that cuts of this magnitude are being discussed absent a complete plan,” said Bob Wells, executive director of the Assn. of California School Administrators.

Legislators will begin debating the $10-billion budget reduction Davis will present in special session Monday. The proposal will only begin to address the state’s fiscal problems. The balance of the budget shortfall will be dealt with beginning early next month.