Education, City Officials Divided Over Propositions

By Jorge Casuso

March 2 -- While education officials view two key propositions on Tuesday’s ballot as critical to the fiscal health of the College and School districts, some City officials are ambivalent about the measures, if not adamantly opposed to them.

For education officials, Proposition 57 -- a one-time bond of up to $15 billion to retire the state budget deficit -- would add much needed certainty to an unpredictable budget process that has had the college and school boards guessing every year how much money will be available.

Proposition 57 hinges on the concurrent approval of Proposition 58 -- the California Balanced Budget Act -- which requires that a balanced budget be enacted, that spending not exceed income and that at least an $8 billion reserve be established.

“If Proposition 57 does not pass,” Santa Monica College President Dr. Piedad Robertson wrote in a message to college employees last month, “massive reductions to the state’s community college system are expected. The critical nature of this bond cannot be overstated.”

In the resolution supporting Proposition 57, the College Board of Trustees noted that "without this bond, the State of California may be out of cash by June, thus placing extreme hardship upon community colleges as well as all other publicly-funded agencies."

While the College Board took a formal position February 2 to support the measures, the School Board did not take a vote, although members have individually endorsed the propositions.

“It provides a certain level of predictability,” said School Board President Jose Escarce. “Otherwise we must depend on a budget process whose outcome we cannot predict.

“If it passes, we’ll know what happens,” Escarce said. “If not, we’re facing an unknown, and it depends on the budgetary machinations of the governor and the legislature in Sacramento.”

“It’s a solution, and we know where we stand if that passes,” School Board member Julia Brownley agreed. “If not, everything is off the table, and there would be worse circumstances.”

But some City officials believe that the two propositions spearheaded by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger are not the only answer to the state’s budget woes. Mayor Richard Bloom said he would reluctantly vote for the measure, while Councilman Michael Feinstein called it a “cruel hoax.”

“It goes against 150 years of our state history to borrow for operating expenses,” Feinstein said. “That’s terrible economics… The governor’s job is not to borrow from our future, but to provide answers today.

“It’s widely acknowledged we have a structural deficit. Our system of taxes doesn’t work,” said Feinstein, who proposes returning to a higher tax rate for high income brackets. “To be borrowing without having any express plan to address the structural deficit is an abdication of (Schwarzenegger’s) responsibilities as governor.”

Bloom said he would support the measure, but would have liked the state to explore other alternatives to the propositions.

“I have some feelings of ambivalence about it,” Bloom said. “I’m likely to vote for them, but it’s with some reluctance. I think there are other options out there.

“This is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan, but there are other plans out there,” Bloom said. “People are perceiving this as the only way to solve the problem, but there are other ways.”

It is unclear what the full repercussions would be for education if the propositions fail, since it would depend on how the budget deficit is addressed.

School Superintendent John Deasy has warned that even if the measures pass, the School District may have to slash at least 23 programs to bridge a looming $3.5 million deficit under the state budget proposed by the governor.

For the College District, the failure of the bond measures could result in the likely scrapping of the “equalization proposals” in the governor’s proposed budget, said SMC spokesman Bruce Smith.

The proposed equalization funds are “an attempt to bring about greater equity in the amount that community college districts receive per student,” Robertson wrote in her message to college employees.

“SMC, the lowest-funded community college district in the state, would get anywhere from $2.7 million to $3.6 million in equalization funds in 2004-05 under the governor’s proposed budget,” Robertson said.

The money could be lost if voters turn down the propositions, college officials warned.

The College Board also voted to endorse two other propositions on Tuesday’s ballot.

Proposition 55 -- a $12.3 billion bond which would provide $920 million over the next two years for California community colleges for building projects -- and Proposition 56, which would require a 55 percent, rather than a two-thirds vote of the state Assembly and Senate, to adopt a state budget.

“Every year we go through this horrible uncertainty about what we’re going to get,” Smith said of the problems addressed by Prop 56. “It makes it difficult to plan. Ideally, we should plan our fiscal year well in advance. This would help us a lot.”