It’s Time to Back Education

The March 5 election suggests that Orange County voters have come to an important crossroads in their long-standing opposition to tax increases to ensure that public schools deliver a solid education.

Voters in six North County districts did more than approve $490 million in construction bonds to fund new schools and renovate existing buildings--some of which opened their doors well before Disneyland’s since-retired submarine ride first set out to sea. The string of bond victories also signaled a newfound willingness by historically conservative voters to shoulder necessary costs of operating viable public education systems.

With the El Toro airport debate grounded, the county’s elected officials shouldn’t need an air traffic controller to tell them that these forward-thinking voters are making education their priority. The county’s legislative delegations in Sacramento and Washington also should set aside political differences and set about clearing financial roadblocks created by under-funded and poorly structured state and federal education mandates. There’s plenty of work to be done.

Federal legislators should tackle the necessary business of funding special-education programs that sap local school districts’ budgets. In Sacramento, elected representatives should push for a rational funding formula that pays Orange County districts their fair share. They should also address Sacramento’s growing propensity to earmark state funds for specific programs--in effect, taking control of local districts.

The Irvine-based research firm Pacific Opinions found that Republicans and Democrats alike prefer that bureaucracies, not teachers and classroom programs, feel the pain of impending budget cuts. Those voters should listen when administrators say that school boards no longer can balance budgets simply by freeing up more parking spaces at the district headquarters.

The pain clearly has spread to the classroom. Capistrano Unified School District trimmed last year’s budget by $6.5 million and now is looking for another $6 million to cut. Saddleback Valley Unified dropped music and science programs and laid off library clerks and custodians rather than increase the number of students in its classrooms. Imagine the hornet’s nest to be stirred when cash-strapped districts in the county opt out of the popular but expensive state program that reduces class sizes, as Irvine Unified did for the third grade.

The school bond campaigns, together with local parcel tax measures of recent years, signal that districts and voters are going to have to go to the well. And unfortunately, there are more headaches ahead for administrators. As important as the construction bond victories are, fast-growing districts in South County know that operating budgets will grow rather than shrink as much-needed classrooms are built.