He’s Huge in the Capitol but Definitely Not Big Man on University Campuses

Sacramento —  Two things should be kept in mind and pondered separately when assessing Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor. One is his political prowess; the other his public policy.

The two are distinct but are easily morphed in people’s minds, including ours in the media.

People are blown away by this new governor’s political prowess. His ability to sell the electorate and prod politicians is phenomenal. Those innate talents honed in Hollywood are undeniable. The star-struck Capitol is charmed and basking in his celebrity.

He’s mostly having his own way. If it looks dicey, he tactically retreats, avoiding a bloody fight and strained relationships.

Either way, there’s action, action, action, as he promised: On a car tax cut. On budget bailout bonds. On a workers’ comp overhaul. And by early summer, it’s a good bet, on an on-time budget.

Schwarzenegger’s job performance was approved by 69% of voters in a recent Times poll.

What all this means is that he’s a highly effective governor. It doesn’t necessarily make him a really good governor.

That’s a more subjective call and it hinges, in large part, on your view of his public policy -- what he’s proposing and how he’s treating people.

Myself, I have a tough time with his position that California must turn away qualified students from public universities in order to balance the state budget.

These are high school grads who have studied and sacrificed to get the grades the state promised would earn them admission to the University of California or Cal State University. Now they’re being told to take a hike -- for essentially chicken-feed savings.

This is not the kind of thinking that made California great -- that, beginning early in the 20th century, provided affordable college educations to every qualified student in order to develop a skilled, innovative workforce and give young people a chance to fulfill their dreams.

Gov. Gray Davis and the Legislature began pulling up draw bridges around the campuses last year when they froze enrollments at UC and CSU. It was a two-year freeze designed to pocket, annually, $38 million at UC and $58 million at CSU.

Schwarzenegger now is chasing away more students with an additional 10% enrollment cut. He’s offering to waive fees at community colleges if students will park themselves there for two years before transferring to a university.

But how many students, who have been reaching for a higher rung on the educational ladder than a community college, will be willing to lower their sights? Most probably will head off to a private school.

So far, UC has turned away 7,600 qualified students and CSU 3,800, according to the nonpartisan legislative analyst.

And what does the state treasury reap from stymieing these young ambitions? Just $24 million from UC and $21 million from CSU. That’s not even chump change when trying to plug a $14-billion state deficit.

What’s more, the fortunate who are enrolled will be forced to dig deeper for yet another hefty fee increase: 14% for undergraduates (to $5,682 annually at UC, $2,332 at CSU) and 20% for grad students. Fees also will climb in the two following years, but at a slower rate.

The take from the new fee hikes: $113 million from students at UC, $106 million at CSU.

And all this from a governor who opposes tax increases. Call it fees or tuition, it’s still a tax if you’re paying.

The enrollment rollbacks and fee increases are part of a deal Schwarzenegger negotiated with the universities to whack their funding by about $200 million at UC and $220 million at CSU, the legislative analyst estimates.

The governor and university heads call it a “compact” to assure “stability and predictability” in the future. The universities will succumb to Schwarzenegger’s slashing in the budget year starting July 1. In return, they’re promised modest funding increases beginning the year after next.

Sitting there listening to those university heads at a news conference, I couldn’t help thinking of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain waving the 1938 document that promised “Peace in our time.” All Chamberlain and the European powers had to do was turn over a third of Czechoslovakia’s people to Nazi Germany. That compact didn’t work out so well.

Moreover, there’s something grating about a UC president (Robert Dynes) who’ll be paid $395,000 plus big perks under the governor’s budget, and a CSU chancellor (Charlie Reed) who’s in line for $317,000, announcing they’ve agreed to turn away freshmen and significantly hike student fees.

They’re standing next to a governor so fantastically rich he doesn’t even need to collect his $175,000 salary.

“I have said from Day 1 that we have to do everything that we can to protect education,” Schwarzenegger declared. Except, of course, raise taxes.

“Everyone has to tighten their belts. Everyone has to give something,” the governor asserted later in revealing his revised $103-billion budget proposal. But not everyone. Not the likes of Dynes and Reed and Schwarzenegger when they pay their income taxes. Their taxes won’t be rising like tuitions will.

So in grading Schwarzenegger, let’s not get too giddy. An “A” for action. But mixed grades on public policy. A “D” for higher education this semester.

George Skelton writes Monday and Thursday. Reach him at george.skelton@latimes.com.