Prop. 76 draws heat from local school districts

The Las Virgenes and Oak Park unified school districts stand opposed to Proposition 76, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “The California Live Within Our Means Act.”

But supporters of the proposition, such as the Thousand OaksWestlake Village Regional Chamber of Commerce, feel Prop. 76 is needed to help balance the state’s debt-laden budget.

Las Virgenes Superintendent Sandra Smyser said the proposition could “significantly jeopardize” available state funding for public schools. The proposition would dismantle the funding guarantees of Proposition 98 passed by voters in 1988, Smyser said.

“Elimination of these guarantees would fundamentally change how schools operate and the services provided to students and our community,” Smyser said.

Tony Knight, superintendent of Oak Park Unified School District, said Oak Park schools rely heavily on Prop. 98 money and would be forced to cut many programs, such as music, counseling and school athletics if Prop. 76 passes.

“I recognize we have a budget problem in California, but as I’ve said for many years, I don’t think we should be balancing the state budget on the backs of California’s school children,” Knight said.

If the governor’s act is passed, the state would have the power to cut funds to schools in the middle of the school year on an ongoing basis.

According to a “Quality Counts 2005” report by Education Week, California ranks 44th in perpupil spending nationwide. School officials believe that Prop. 76 will hurt students even further.

“The loss of nearly $3 billion in funding that the governor had promised (California) schools would seem to be an indicator of the type of situation schools would face on a regular basis should Proposition 76 be passed,” said Smyser. “This loss alone resulted in nearly $2 million to Las Virgenes children.”

Knight said many of the parents in his district who move to Oak Park from the East Coast or other areas in the country are concerned about the quality of California schools because of the lack of state spending. Although local school districts continue to maintain high test scores and graduation rates, other school districts in the state continue to struggle.

But according to Prop. 76 proponents, the measure could result in a “smoother pattern of state expenditures over time, since revenues would be set aside in financially flush periods, which could be used in leaner years.”

Jan Smith, the governmental and economic development manager with the Thousand OaksWestlake Village Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the Chamber supports Prop. 76 because it not only helps curb state spending but also protects schools from future budget cuts.

“When we started with 76, we read it thoroughly,” Smith said. “The California budget has been in the deficit for many, many years. This gives the governor the ability to make the necessary changes to balance the budget without adding new taxes.”

Smith said the local Chamber’s decision to support Prop. 76 was not made because the California Chamber of Commerce supports the proposed law.

“We’re looking at the fact that education still receives a large chunk of the budget, and we feel it’s time that somebody has the ability to come in, not willy nilly, and make the necessary changes just when we’re in a bad economic time,” Smith said.

Prop. 76 will likely force administrators to revaluate their already tight budgets.

Las Virgenes School Board member Judy Jordan said that the governor’s proposal “undoes Prop. 98 guarantees and gives a whole lot of power to the governor.”

School board member Cindy Iser said the proposition would “make our funding source very unstable.”

Board President Gordon Whitehead said the proposition “offended” him and the proposition further politicizes school funding.

“It seemed (that) when Gov. Schwarzenegger first came into office he was going to be working with school districts to improve them,” Knight said. “And everything we’ve seen since he has been office has been the opposite of that, and that has been very disappointing to us as school leaders.”