The power to spend

Marisa O’Neil

In Tuesday’s State of the State Address, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

said he plans to increase per-pupil funding and give schools more

power to decide where to spend their education dollars.

By “consolidating” $2 billion in funds for special programs and

“cutting the strings to Sacramento,” Schwarzenegger said, the state

can save money while increasing funding. His speech did not go into

any details of his proposed state budget, due out on Friday.

“We like and will support efforts to examine a master plan with

flexibility at the school level,” Newport-Mesa Unified School

District Supt. Rob Barbot said. “We just have to make sure the agenda

is not to take away from districts that are already struggling to

give to [other districts].”

Local educators know that cuts are coming. But until the new state

budget comes out Friday, they can only guess how far the cuts will

go.

No official details of Schwarzenegger’s plans for school funding

are available yet, but according to published reports, he may

withhold $2 billion from schools next year or consider funding

schools directly, bypassing districts.

“Obviously we’re concerned with what the budget is going to look

like”, Coast Community College District spokesperson Erin Cohn said.

“We know we’re going to have to face some cuts but we don’t know what

kind of cut it will be.”

Cohn called the district “cautiously pessimistic” about the

impending belt-tightening seen as inevitable.

“We all know we’re going to take a hit this year,” Barbot said.

“We realize we are participants and need to be part of the solution.

I think the governor has a desire to work cooperatively to solve the

problem for the common.”

The California Teacher’s Assn., a teachers’ labor union,

reportedly agreed to support a plan for the governor to withhold $2

billion from the $3.5-billion increase in Proposition 98 funding due

to schools this year. Proposition 98 promises an increasing amount of

funds to schools annually.

The California Federation of Teachers, to which Newport-Mesa

Unified teachers belong, was not involved in the negotiations and has

not come out in support of the rumored plan, said Jim Rogers,

president of the local union. He was “taken aback” by the deal made

by the other union.

“It’s extremely interesting to see a teachers’ organization that

seems to be on board with a republican governor,” Rogers said. “It

seems like oil and water. But I don’t know what they’re getting in

return.”

After the proposed budget is released on Friday, local educators

will carefully go through it to find out what kind of impact it will

have on them. Then the districts will have a better idea where the

cuts will come.

“I think it’s going to come out OK,” Newport-Mesa trustee Linda

Sneen said. “You’ve got to expect some cuts. Even when you’re on a

budget in a household you still manage to make it. You just have to

tighten your belt do without some luxuries.”

* MARISA O’NEIL covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.