State superintendent comments on state budget

SACRAMENTO - State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell today issued the following statement regarding education funding in California's state budget proposal, focusing specifically on the impact of cuts to prekindergarten through grade twelve:

"As long as lawmakers in Sacramento continue to struggle to pass a budget, California schools and districts are not able to plan and budget for their own operations.

"As I said two weeks ago at my State of Education address, the situation is precarious, but as bad as this budget is, it would provide some certainty to schools. I believe that an enacted budget would help the state's fiscal situation and ability to sell bonds or borrow monies as needed.

"The budget proposal being considered now reduces current year Proposition 98 funding by about $7 billion, which includes deferrals and the redesignation of funds. My concern is that the state is in essence transferring its cash flow problem to local agencies.

"Additional flexibility to transfer funding between about 40 programs will give some additional discretion to local districts that I hope would assist them to continue at some level to meet the needs of California's school children.

"I'm pleased that the class-size reduction program is preserved, and that the penalties for partial participation are reduced.

"Another important part of this proposal that I appreciate is that child nutrition, special education, and economic impact aid, as well as our apprenticeship programs, are not included in the transferability as these programs serve some of our most vulnerable children or, as in the case of apprenticeship programs, provide unique training and career exposure opportunities to our young people.

"I plan to review language on the Proposition 98 maintenance factor ballot measure, but I am pleased that as described it would ensure that education receives the $9 billion in repayments it is due. 

"Finally, I believe our state needs and deserves a better budgeting process. I hope that the dysfunction in the State Capitol provides momentum to my call for lowering the voting threshold for a budget from two-thirds down to a simple majority, and eliminating pay for the Governor and lawmakers when a budget is late.

"While many would argue that this change would essentially make the minority party obsolete, I believe it would hold the majority party in the Legislature fully accountable for its actions, while also providing for a much less cumbersome budget process.

"I also feel strongly that this change would help provide some measure of stability to our schools during this process, because the budget wouldn't as easily be held up by the minority party as it is now.

"In essence, education would not find itself mired in this perpetual fiscal limbo while legislators battle each other to come to a budget agreement. People up and down this state are forced to suffer as result of the budget gridlock, and I feel that the Governor and legislators must share in this pain. It is simply not right to keep paying the legislators if they're not doing their jobs - nobody else in California gets this sort of deal and neither should they."