Message to Schwarzenegger—Don’t Use School Kids to Bridge Budget Gap

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Lisa Schiff

Schools cannot be used to bridge the budget gap. Not now, not ever. What ought to be an obvious truth is apparently too subtle for Governor Schwarzenegger to grasp. Despite the defeat of his past efforts to raid school funds, it seems that public education supporters should never have let up on this one simple message—and to make sure we can’t stop at the Governor’s mansion.

It’s never been clearer than now that our representatives need a stronger push to stand up for schools (and other public necessities) and turn the debate around from budget slashing to enhancing the revenue streams into public coffers. If dire cuts are on the table, then reasonable taxes, closing loopholes for wealthy individuals, and eliminating giveaways to corporations need to be as well.

In the midst of local, state and federal frenzied financial panics, reframing the conversation is difficult but necessary. The numbers are scary, it’s true, and that is precisely why the examination of revenue is required. As of February 20th, the Legislative Analysis Office (LAO) announced that the deficit is likely to be even higher than the estimate from the Governor’s office, bringing the total gap to about $16 billion.

While the LAO anticipates a bleaker budget year, their proposal to address the problem is somewhat more palatable than the Governor’s, but only slightly. Most significantly, instead of making across the board cuts for services, it targets cuts, attempting to eliminate programs that are according to some standard, not performing, and it begins to look at some revenue enhancement strategies.

However, it still calls for cuts within education, although less severe than what Schwarzenegger proposed -- including maintaining Proposition 98 at minimum levels, not funding cost-of living adjustments (COLAs), and suspending the Quality Education Invest Act, which was designed to support schools serving a high percentage of low-income, minority and English language learner populations. Interestingly, releasing funds from categorical spending constraints is also highlighted as a strategy within the LAO alternative budget, as a way to give local administrators more to work with in meeting basic prioritized needs in their districts.

What does this mean for San Francisco? A lot. About $40 million was the estimate provided to a joint committee between the school district and the city. To provide a mental image of just how disastrous that cut would be, consider that that amount was compared to laying off over 500 teachers or increasing class sizes for 4th through 12th graders to 61 students.