Nanette Asimov

Friday, January 11, 2008

PROPOSAL: The governor wants an immediate cut of $360 million from K-12 schools and $40 million from community colleges, although their combined share of this year's deficit is far more - $1.4 billion. For next year, he wants to suspend Proposition 98, the voter-approved law that guarantees a minimum level of school funding. That would mean withholding $4 billion from kindergarten through community colleges. Under his proposal, schools and community colleges would get $39.6 billion from the state's general fund instead of the $43.6 billion owed under Prop. 98.

WHAT IT MEANS TO YOU: Schools cannot legally dismiss teachers in the current year. So to save cash immediately, schools may opt not to fill empty positions, or may cancel orders for books they had hoped to buy. But in anticipation of deeper cuts next year, when per-pupil funding could drop to $8,458 from the current $8,558, teachers could get dismissal warnings for next school year as early as this March.

REACTION: "These are the deepest cuts ever proposed for school funding in the history of California," said Bob Wells, executive director of the Association of California School Administrators. State Superintendent Jack O'Connell, referring to the governor's promised "Year of Education," called 2008 the "Year of Evisceration."

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/11/MNVIUD5V8.DTL

This article appeared on page A - 12 of the San Francisco Chronicle