Public school teachers went to Sacramento to stand up to the governor last week.
“You can have a dialogue about money without denigrating and disrespecting,” said Cindy Andre, a second-grade teacher at Alamo Elementary School.
Andre, along with about 100 other teachers from the San Ramon Valley Unified District and thousands of teachers, nurses, firefighters and policemen from all across the state gathered on the south lawn of the Capitol in Sacramento on Wednesday last week to voice opposition to Gov. Schwarzenegger’s policy agenda. A similar rally was simultaneously held in Los Angeles.
The rally was partly in response to Schwarzenegger’s May budget revision, in which $1.3 billion in surplus money was allocated to transportation and not education.
Organizations like the California Teachers Association claim that Schwarzenegger reneged on an agreement he made with them in 2003. After defeating Gov. Gray Davis in the recall election, Schwarzenegger faced a $20 billion state deficit. In order to narrow the deficit without raising taxes, he negotiated with the education lobby to suspend for a year Proposition 98, a funding guarantee for public schools. He in turn promised to eventually pay the money back to the schools.
Educators argue, however, that he also promised to increase school funding if the state’s economy improved. Schwarzenegger denies this.
“We wanted California to know what the governor is doing is wrong,” said Mary Jane Keogh, president of the San Ramon Valley Education Association, part of the California Teachers Association. “He has lied. He has promised one thing, a fully funded proposition. He borrowed $2 billion from Proposition 98 and now he is reneging. The level of funding that should have been coming in to our schools is now not going to. This will impact school programs.”
The rally was also a response to Schwarzenegger’s proposed special election this fall. Schwarzenegger wants to make tenure tougher for public school teachers; put a cap on state spending, which would also allow the governor to unilaterally cut funding to Proposition 98; and redraw state and legislative districts.
“I think it’s really important that the governor honors Proposition 98 and that he understands we’re going to fight to keep it from being repealed,” said school board president Joan Buchanan, who also attended the rally in Sacramento. “It’s a funding minimum. Having any kind of ballot initiative to eliminate Prop. 98 means problems for education in the future.” Buchanan said, however, that it’s too soon to tell how the governor’s policies will impact the district.
“We’re fortunate. We’ve done a good job on balancing the budget, we don’t have declining enrollment, and we’ve taken responsibility for funding our post-retirement benefits. I don’t see us making cuts, but I don’t see us adding back programs,” said Buchanan.
Another controversial initiative is a “paycheck protection” initiative that would require labor unions to obtain permission from members before spending union dues for political purposes.
“It’s war on the unions. He’s making that quite clear,” said Keogh.
Keogh believes Schwarzenegger will go through with the special election, despite the opposition. A recent survey by the Public Policy Institute of California and the James Irvine Foundation showed that support for a special election has dropped since January among Democrats (34 percent to 24 percent); Republicans (58 percent to 46 percent); and independents (47 percent to 37 percent).
The district was united at the rally. Along with the teachers, school-related unions, and school board president Buchanan was Superintendent Robert Kessler.
“Schools need adequate financial resources. Currently, California has the highest academic standards of any state, yet our funding is among the lowest in the nation,” said Kessler. “This doesn’t make sense. The state budget needs to reflect the high priority the public has placed on children and the education system.”
Kessler also attended to support the district’s teachers and classified employees at the rally, he said.
Most teachers who attended the rally worked a full school day and left immediately after school.
“We went by bus. We went right after the students left at 2 p.m.,” said Andre. Kessler was already in Sacramento attending meetings. He walked to the rally afterward with Sen. Tom Torlakson (D, 7th District).
Judy Clawson, head of clerical, food service, technical and instructional assistants in the school district, took one of her vacation days to make it to Sacramento. “It was huge and hot, but it was well-organized,” she said. “There were press helicopters flying overhead. My daughter who lives in Davis thought it was an awesome site.”
The governor is expected to decide on the special election by mid-June. It would most probably take place in November 2006 and cost the state approximately $80 million, according to Secretary of State Bruce McPherson. The next primary election is scheduled for June 2006. In the meantime, district teachers, administrators,and classified works remain united in their opposition to the governor’s policies.
“We’ve felt there’s been support from everybody. So in that respect it’s been very good,” said Penny Rix, a third-grade teacher at Alamo Elementary. “We all need to make statements the best way we know how. That was an appropriate forum.”
