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Contra Costa Times Education panel's proposals run into state deficit By Jessie Mangaliman - MEDIA NEWS STAFF Setting the stage for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Year of
Education," a panel he appointed has proposed a sweeping set of
reforms that will help define the debate, including performance-based
pay for teachers, universal preschool and full-day kindergarten.
Both critics and supporters
of the ideas immediately
pointed to the obvious obstacle in ushering in a
major change in how California educates its children:
a state budget
deficit looming
at $14 billion. Based on recent projections,
the report said, the state's education budget will grow
by $6 billion
to $7 billion in the next six years under Proposition
98, the state's
minimum-funding guarantee for
schools. In a statement released Thursday by the governor's office, Secretary of Education David Long said the report, "along with other recent research, will play a vital role in shaping the policy discussion we will have over the course of the year to improve student achievement in our state." The governor's critics say the panel is dreaming, considering the state's budget crisis. The governor, they note, has suggested a plan to cut at least 10 percent across the board. " I don't think it distinguishes itself from ... every other report that's been done on the subject," said Kevin Gordon, president of the School Innovations and Advocacy, a lobbying firm that represents the Santa Clara County Office of Education. " It stands a good chance of being put on the shelf and gathering dust," said Gordon, who has not seen the report but is familiar with its major recommendations. " Reforms without money are not any better than money without reforms. ... It's clear we have high standards, and we're trying to become the best in the world, but without addressing the level of resources, that's just a huge gap," said Bob Wells, executive director of the Association of California School Administrators. Some legislators familiar with the report are also not optimistic about the prospects of implementing the panel's recommendations, which include two costly initiatives: $1.1 billion to expand preschool programs with free day care and all-day kindergarten and $5 billion for a program for poor students who are learning English. It also proposes streamlining the state bureaucracy and a new role for the state superintendent for public instruction, who would oversee school accountability and manage data systems. State schools chief Jack O'Connell on Thursday declined to comment. " It's an ambitious plan," said state Assemblyman Gene Mullin, D-San Mateo, chairman of the Assembly education committee. "There's a lot of merit in many of the findings, but they run headlong into a major fiscal crisis." The proposed performance-based pay for teachers and administrators immediately drew fire. " It's been around forever," said Sen. Joseph Simitian, D-Palo Alto. "People find it quite appealing as an abstract notion, but when defined as a workable system, it gets tough in a hurry." The state teachers union, the California Teachers Association, has opposed merit pay in the past. A spokesman on Thursday declined to comment. The proposal to delay the age at which children start kindergarten would bring California into alignment with most states. Children would have to turn 5 by Sept. 1 rather than Dec. 2 on the year they enter kindergarten. The proposal would generate savings because it reduces the number of students entering the system. The report estimates the state would save $700 million a year for about 13 years. About one-quarter of California's kindergarten students are younger than 5 and unprepared when they begin school, said Carol Nicoli, president of the California Kindergarten Association. Nicoli said she as not seen a copy of the report but from what has she heard, she is thrilled by the proposed new age requirement. " I've always dreamed that it would happen," she said. "I have believed in this for many years." The report urges California to move toward universal preschool in phases, starting with low-income families. Peter Mehas, a member of the governor's panel who is a regent at Fresno State, acknowledged the concern of many who worry about how the state would pay for such sweeping reforms. " If you don't have money on these recommendations, it's difficult to get an immediate response," he said. "The agenda has to be moved by finance." But Mehas, who has served on similar state panels under previous administrations, said he is hopeful that unlike education reform proposals he has seen in the past, the panel's work "is not going to go for naught." The governor "told us from the get-go that he wants our best ideas, your best thinking, then 'I'll take it from there.'"
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