Wilson’s Tone Grows Harsh With Teachers : Governor: He attacks union’s opposition to his proposed two-year, $2-billion reduction in school aid.

Gov. Pete Wilson, departing from the conciliatory tone he has set as governor, angrily lashed out at the state’s largest teacher’s union Saturday for its opposition to his proposed two-year, $2-billion reduction in school aid.

The Republican governor, said to be particularly upset by a television ad the 230,000-member California Teachers Assn. is using to buck his budget plan, launched the counterattack during his weekly radio address.

The ad behind Wilson’s anger depicts an elementary school-age girl fretting about the possibility of having to share textbooks, being short of pencils and maybe losing a favorite teacher. The 30-second ad, the cornerstone of a $1-million-plus television campaign, closes with the girl asking viewers to urge the governor not to suspend Proposition 98, the voter-approved constitutional amendment that guarantees schools minimum levels of funding. CTA members were assessed $12 each to pay for the TV ad campaign.

Wilson, during his radio remarks, said: “That TV campaign deliberately seeks to confuse the welfare of that little girl and other students with increased compensation for teachers at a time when other public and most private sector employees are facing pay freezes.”

He added that “teachers union bosses shouldn’t be exploiting California’s children in pursuit of still fatter paychecks.”

The comment about exploiting children was in the second of two commentaries prepared for radio. The first version, put together by his staff, was considered too tame by Wilson, even though it was peppered by three references to “union bosses” and asserted that the teachers union officials were “attempting a massive pay grab.” Wilson insisted on rewriting the first commentary, using the stronger language in the second one.

Otto Bos, Wilson’s communications director, said Wilson thinks the CTA is trying “to manipulate the system to their advantage and he is angry about that.”

Wilson’s radio address represented a significant departure from the moderate tone he has tried to establish since taking office last month. But the tough approach he adopted in answering his critics is similar to the no-holds-barred campaign style he used in winning the state’s highest elective office. During the campaign, the CTA endorsed Wilson’s opponent, Dianne Feinstein.

CTA officials immediately challenged Wilson’s remarks, saying it is “untrue” that the union is using the budget fight to ensure wage hikes for members.

“If Proposition 98 remains in effect, it will give education a cost-of-living increase and additional money to teach the 200,000 additional students expected to enroll in the state’s schools next fall,” CTA President Ed Foglia said.

Proposition 98 was approved by voters in 1988. Drafted by the CTA and others to counter cuts in funding for education programs, it mandates that public schools and community colleges receive at least 40% of general purpose state tax revenues. State Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig contends that if Wilson’s budget plan succeeds, the share of school funding will drop from 42.5% to 37.5%. Although Proposition 98 mandates minimum levels of funding, it allows for suspension of its provisions in case of emergency.

Much of the current debate centers on what constitutes an emergency.

School interests argue that the $7-billion to $10-billion shortage that state officials are expecting over the next 16 months is more a political problem than a fiscal emergency. They note that Wilson’s budget plan allows some state programs, such as corrections and Medi-Cal, to grow in the 30% to 35% range over the next two years. CTA officials are pressing for a resolution of the budget problem by a round of hefty tax increases. Wilson supports some tax increases, but not enough to offset his proposed spending reductions.

The CTA is one of the most combative interest groups in the capital. Throwing down the gauntlet at lawmakers and governors who oppose its agenda is nothing new. They were engaged in a long-running feud with former Gov. George Deukmejian over school funding.

Ned Hopkins, the associate executive director of CTA, said union officials were surprised by the intensity of Wilson’s attack. “Up until now, he seemed much more congenial than George Deukmejian and he seemed to be putting much more emphasis on education than Deukmejian,” he said.

Wilson, during his radio address, argued that his proposal to cut school programs must be viewed in the larger context of state budget problems. Wilson said his plan to close the looming budget deficit includes a broad range of other budget cuts and tax increases.

Referring again to the ad, the governor said, “To the union bosses who are saying, ‘Sacrifice is fine for everyone but us,’ I ask: Should the burden fall even more heavily on a young girl’s grandparents who face skyrocketing medical costs? Or her pregnant sister who desperately needs prenatal care? Or on the backs of her working parents whose jobs are threatened by recession?”

Schools chief Honig, who was involved with numerous rancorous exchanges during the Deukmejian era, said Saturday he was concerned about the feud between Wilson and the CTA. He urged both to try to avoid “escalating rhetorical warfare.”

“We all lose if we can’t keep the lines of communication open,” he said.

Later in the day, Wilson, under questioning by reporters at a Republican convention here, defended as “entirely justified and warranted” his comment that CTA was exploiting children for “fatter paychecks.”

“Here you’ve got a group of considerable political clout who is seeking to exercise it in order to gain special exemptions from the sort of fiscal pain that is being visited upon virtually everybody else who is dependent on that budget,” he said.