School Effort Stymied by Political Bickering

SACRAMENTO —  Bickering between Republicans and Democrats erupted on the floor of the California Assembly on Thursday, and a bill to help public schools avoid laying off teachers suffered as a result.

Lawmakers from both parties acknowledged that it was a good idea to let school districts offer early retirement as a way to avoid teacher layoffs that are looming because of the state budget crisis.

But Republicans, frustrated by what they called the arrogance and favoritism of the majority Democrats, refused to vote on the bill because of the way it had been presented. As a result, the bill failed to achieve the two-thirds majority that would have allowed it to take effect in time to avoid layoffs this year.

The outcome was another sign of how badly partisan relationships have deteriorated in the 80-member Assembly. The debate left some wondering how the Legislature will ever craft a budget that bridges the state’s $35-billion shortfall. The state Constitution requires a budget by July 1, but for weeks there has been little progress.

There was no shouting; in fact, at times the chamber grew tensely silent. Yet beneath the measured discussion was an undertone of bitterness. “It’s getting ugly,” Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) said after the debate. “People are getting testy.”

Republicans said they refused to vote because the bill had gotten special fast-track treatment by Democratic leaders while Republican bills, regardless of their merit, languished. Democrats were abusing the legislative process, the Republicans said. “I regret the fact that in this house there’s a double standard,” said Assembly Republican leader Dave Cox of Fair Oaks.

AB 1207 was offered by Assemblywoman Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro) carrying an “urgency” clause that would allow it to take effect before May 15, when school districts must decide which teachers will lose their jobs. Urgency measures require a two-thirds vote, as will the budget.

More than 30,000 teachers received notice of potential layoffs in March, though many fewer are expected to actually lose their jobs.

The bill had been one of many being held in abeyance by the Assembly Appropriations Committee until a state budget was crafted. But Thursday, in a meeting that lasted no more than two minutes, the committee revived Corbett’s bill and moved it to the Assembly floor.

Republicans objected to singling out Corbett’s bill. Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher (R-Brea), whose daughter is one of the teachers who recently got pink slips, said the Appropriations Committee should be reviving all bills that could help school districts retain teachers, including those that would give schools flexibility in how they meet class-size requirements.

“I would urge this Legislature to look at all the bills in committee and identify those that could help,” Daucher said. “Let’s pull them all forward.”

When the time came to vote, Republicans refused to cast votes either way. When no Republicans hit either their red or green vote buttons, the normally raucous Assembly turned quiet. When the vote on the bill stuck at 44 to 0, one member made a sound like a balloon releasing air.

Corbett then moved to strike the urgency clause, and the Assembly came to tense attention. The bill would proceed, but if passed by the Senate and signed by the governor it would not take effect until Jan. 1. Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles) called the refusal of Republicans to vote “embarrassing.”

“We fight like cats and dogs in this house,” she said, “but usually we vote on principle.”

Cox said he recognized that Republicans, as the minority party, can’t expect to get their way. But he called the latest moves by Democrats, who make up 48 of the 80 Assembly members, simply unfair.

“I ask you to be mindful of the fact that there are bills by Republicans that are pretty good too,” he said.

Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), chairman of the Appropriations Committee, defended his impartiality. He defied Cox to name any Republican who had asked to have an urgent bill pulled from the so-called suspense file and had been denied.

“You make a request that meets the same test as Corbett’s,” Steinberg said, “and I’ll grant your request.”

Corbett, who said she has heard from hundreds of worried parents and teachers in her San Francisco Bay Area district, said she stripped the urgency clause simply to keep the measure alive and move it to the Senate.

“This is the wrong bill to have this kind of fight over,” she said. “I’ve never seen a bill so important get hung up like this.

“The only people getting hurt by this,” Corbett said, “are the kids and the teachers.”