Children are our Special Interest!

The Governor’s proposals on education, including his merit pay plan, are a smokescreen designed to divert public attention away from the real issues, which are adequate and stable funding of our public schools and the fact that he has broken his promise to the students of this state.

Public education has been cut by $9.8 billion dollars over the past four years and the children and schools of California are hurting. In an agreement with the Governor, our students and public schools sacrificed this year with the promise that if the economy improved, they would get their fair share of any additional revenues. He’s apparently ready to break his word.

The children of California are our most important “special interest.” We need proposals that will give them everything they need to succeed, not more empty rhetoric.

“Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his Finance Director Tom Campbell continue to claim that the Governor’s Proposed Budget 2005-06 includes a 7.1 percent increase in funding for schools. The California Department of Education has been asked to verify this claim. But after a thorough review of the Governor’s Budget, that claim cannot be substantiated.” - California Department of Education website;  “Hot Topics, K-12 Education Funding Myth”

Facts and Fiction ::

 “Money for schools is terribly important; there’s no two ways about it. And my budget for the coming year will spend nearly $3 billion more than last year – Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Weekly Public Radio Address, 2/12/2005

 “The administration is proposing to hold Proposition 98 spending roughly at the 2004-05 Budget Act level (instead of providing schools with additional funds suggested by language adopted with the 2004-05 budget).”  Legislative Analyst’s Office; “2005-06: Overview of the Governor's Budget”; 1/12/2005

 “It is extremely misleading to say school funding will grow by 7.1%.” California State PTA,  1/28/2005

  ERAF (Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund): Voters approved Proposition 1A in November 2004, implementing the governor's agreement with local governments. This Proposition requires a shift of ERAF funds from schools to local governments to replace reduced Vehicle License Fee revenues for 2004-05 and 2005-06. As a result of this action, approximately $674 million in additional Proposition 98 General Fund support for schools is provided to backfill the shift in 2005-06.

Enrollment Growth: The proposed budget includes $395 million for 0.79 percent growth in attendance (an increased number of students). However, forty-two percent of California’s school districts are experiencing declining enrollment, including Poway Unified, so they will not receive any of this funding.

 The Legislative Analyst’s Office has calculated the total increase to K-12 funding to be 6.0%. If you subtract the $674 million that goes to cities and counties, the $433 million pension shift, and the $43 million in new mental health responsibilities, the Administration's $2.5 billion increase shrinks to far less than the publicly touted 7.1% increase. When growth funding is factored out, the "increase" for K-12 would only be about 2.24%, which does not even keep up with inflation, which is projected at 4.1%. 

Mental Health Services: Another shift buried deep in the budget is the proposed shift of $43 million in program costs to school districts to provide mental health services for special education students.

Additional Budget Information ::
STRS (State  Teachers Retirement System):  The  governor proposes to shift the responsibility   for these payments, which are estimated by the Legislative Analyst's   Office to be $469   million, to  school districts and community colleges.	Merit Pay: All   teachers merit good   pay. According to the   RAND Corporation  report that was  released 1/3/2005, California teachers are among the lowest paid  in the country. When adjusted for inflation  and cost of living, the average teacher salary   is $39,000, making us    32nd nationwide and   dead last among the most populous states	n How Budget Cuts Affect Our Schools Statewide: California public schools are being forced to trim more and more from their already lean budgets.  Budget cuts result in loss of teaching staff, larger class sizes, fewer special programs, elimination of athletics and transportation programs, and increased special education education caseloads.  See how cuts have impacted Districts statewide.