Assembly backs basic-aid districts

Mike Swanson

A state Assembly subcommittee unanimously rejected Gov. Gray Davis’

budget proposal Tuesday due to its $126-million cut to basic-aid

school districts like Laguna Beach’s, but the action serves more as a

message to the governor than a demand.

The state Senate also rejected the budget last month, but the

impact of the bodies’ actions on Davis won’t be known until May 14,

when he releases his revised budget.

Supt. Theresa Daem called the move “a good step,” but still

worries about where Davis will find $126 million to make up for the

money he’d planned to take from basic-aid districts, which includes

$6 million from Laguna Beach.

“I still have my anxiety,” Daem said, “but it’s a notch lower

after hearing from the Assembly. I’m still afraid he’ll refuse to

give up on his budget even though the Assembly and Senate say no.

We’ve won a small battle, but I’m certainly not comfortable yet.”

Assemblyman Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto), chairman of the

seven-person budget committee on education finance, called the 5-0

vote an important and timely message to Davis’ administration. Two

members were absent.

Simitian said there are 10 basic-aid school districts in the 13

cities he represents.

“None of the other committee members represent basic-aid

districts,” Simitian said, “so this vote really shows that even those

who aren’t directly impacted by basic-aid cuts get a sense of how

ill-conceived this approach really is.”

Because basic-aid districts receive limited funding from the state

and function on revenue from local property taxes, Simitian said

Davis is taking funds from districts that were never the government’s

to give in the first place.

If the Laguna Beach school board hadn’t passed an interim school

budget that allowed it to rescind layoff notices issued in March,

then every recipient would have been forced to wait until May 14 to

see if they still had jobs, Daem said. May 15 was the scheduled

deadline to rescind layoff notices.

With the interim budget in place as a backup to the district’s

preferred equitable-case scenario that treats basic-aid districts

like all others, the jobs are safe. The continuation of several

programs and services, however, will hinge upon whether Davis chooses

to follow the Senate and Assembly’s lead and edit the budget.

Daem said she hopes to hear something final as soon as possible so

the district can avoid meeting with every constituent facing cuts in

programs or services and battling before it’s necessary.

“I’m really not prepared to pit people against each other in terms

of which programs should stay and which ones should go,” Daem said.

“Those conversations can get pretty heated, and I’d hate to see

people getting angry over something that eventually passes regardless

of what we do.”

Simitian said his committee hopes the issue will be put to rest in

May, and doesn’t drag on to or beyond Davis’ June 30 deadline to

release the final budget. Several officials said the budget is rarely

released on time.

Daem and Simitian stressed that basic-aid districts aren’t in the

clear yet, and they encouraged residents to continue fighting by

calling, e-mailing and faxing the governor with reasons why he should

listen to the state Senate and Assembly.

“I’m fighting for what I believe is a just cause,” Daem said. “I

care about kids and think their educations, regardless of the school

district they live in, should be treated with care. The problem is

that there are other just causes out there, and if [Davis] decides to

treat our cause fairly, then he’ll have to cut someone else’s.”