No control over budgeted funds, educators say

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT-MESA -- Gov. Gray Davis’ proposed budget provides money for

education but leaves him holding the purse strings on much of it, school

officials said Tuesday.

The biggest item on the proposed $88-billion budget is a $28.3-billion

public schools package. Nearly $1 billion of that package is dedicated to

the governor’s education initiatives for kindergarten through 12th grade.

Those initiatives earmark money to begin specific educational programs

and continue others that Davis introduced last year.

“It is a way to give up the money but still maintain the control,” said

David Brooks, vice president of the Newport-Mesa Board of Education.

The proposed budget exceeds the state requirement for spending on

education by $257.4 million. The total amount of funding for kindergarten

through 12th grade from all sources is $47.2 billion, an increase of $2.7

billion over the revised 1999-2000 budget.

“It’s really good that the state is paying attention to public education

and wanting to spend money there,” said Supt. Robert Barbot.

Although school officials are pleased to see an emphasis on education,

they feel funds for discretionary spending are greatly lacking.

“While we’re seeing a lot of new programs, we need to be able to pay the

bills,” Barbot said. “There is nothing about the programs that I would be

opposed to, but we need to be able to keep the basic program alive.”

In his State of the State address last week, Davis focused on the need

for more and better qualified teachers. In his proposed budget, he

earmarked funds for teacher recruitment and training as well as student

achievement and technology and academic partnerships.

“It does not appear to give any degree of flexibilityto local districts

to address their own needs,” said school board member Judy Franco. “Needs

vary from district to district.”

It is the age-old problem of state versus local control, said Mike Fine,

the district’s financial superintendent.

“He [Davis] has got to stop ignoring the fact that we have good teachers

in the classroom already,” Fine said. “We need to focus on the base

program and we need to be able to pay [teachers].”District officials

would like to see more funding set aside for education to be used at the

district’s discretion, instead of sinking the majority of it into

programs.

“We’re just seeing him redirecting categorically -- ‘here’s a program

that we want you do.”’ Brooks said “At least work with the local boards

as to where things are needed.”

Another drawback to the programs, Fine said, is that they contain certain

criteria and many are subject to an application process.

“Some of it will work for us; some of it won’t,” he said.