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In the wake of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s decision to renege on last year’s education funding agreement, Berkeley education leaders were united on one conclusion: If the governor gets his way, the financial impact on Berkeley public schools will not be good. 

There was disagreement, however, on the best way to respond. 

Last January, Schwarzenegger announced the funding agreement with the Education Coalition, an unofficial partnership of various statewide education organizations, including the state PTA, the state school board association, and teachers and service employees unions. Under the agreement, the coalition accepted cuts in constitutionally guaranteed Proposition 98 funding in 2004-05 in return for restoration of that funding in 2005-6 and beyond. 

But following a State of the State address where he declared that “last year, we worked together to avert a [budget] crisis; this year we must address its causes” and calling the state’s education system a “disaster,” Schwarzenegger proposed last week that the Prop. 98 cuts—amounting to some $2 billion statewide—be made permanent. In addition, the governor proposed shifting more of the burden of teacher pension funding from the state to local boards of education. If the Legislature didn’t agree, the governor proposed to bring the matter to California’s voters in November. 

Representatives of the California Federation of Teachers and the California School Boards Association, among other educational groups, met this week to discuss the possible impact of the governor’s proposals, as well as to plan strategy. On Thursday, BUSD Deputy Superintendent Glenston Thompson was at a Sacramento meeting, in part to gather details on Schwarzenegger’s plans. 

At the School Board Associations meeting on Wednesday, State Senate President Don Perata (D-Oakland) told participants that it is not likely that the state Legislature will agree to Schwarzenegger’s proposals. 

“Even if we wanted to, it would be almost impossible to fully discuss what the governor wants in the short time frame that we’re being allowed,” Perata said. “I think the real idea all along was for him to get these things on the ballot.” 

Perata added that he would fight to protect the education funds. “If the governor is declaring war on education, then I’m ready for that,” he said. 

In a telephone interview, Berkeley Federation of Teachers President Barry Fike said that while it is too soon to know what the possible effects of the proposed education cuts and funding shifts might mean, “from the teachers’ perspective, it certainly wouldn’t be positive. This is a wholesale, significant change.” 

Saying that it was a “fair assessment” to characterize the governor’s actions as an attempt to force local school boards to cut benefits to teachers, Fike said that the Berkeley Unified School District “already has a pretty big burden on pensions. Teachers put in 8.25 percent of our check and the district contributes a matching amount. For the state all of a sudden to pull the rug out from the portion that they have carried so far is a huge issue.” 

Fike added that “the governor’s agenda is above and beyond just an assault on local school districts and teachers’ pension benefits. It’s really an attack on labor in general all across the state. It parallels what the Bush administration is trying to do with Social Security.” 

Fike, who sits on the California Federation of Teachers (CFT) executive council, promised that reaction from teachers’ unions would be swift and unified. 

“For labor to be able to survive all this, we’re really going to have to come out strong,” he said. “We’re mustering our forces and figuring out all the different ways we are going to fight this. I’m pretty confident that the CFT is going to be pretty solidly united along with the California Teachers Association (CTA). They aren’t always united on every single issue, but I’m sure they will be on this one.” 

One response, Fike said, will be for the CFT and CTA to send teams of lobbyists to Sacramento to urge lawmakers to reject the governor’s education plans. And if the governor chooses to put his measures to the voters in November, Fike said that labor unions may do likewise. 

“One thing that we’re obviously talking about doing here in response is not to just be on the defensive—although we certainly are going to have to do that—but also be proactive and take the offense. If there are going to be all kinds of initiatives on the ballot this coming November, we don’t just want to be running around telling people to vote no on this and no on that. We want to be asking people to vote yes on some of our ideas, as well.” 

In addition, Fike said that the BFT is forming an action committee which will be meeting soon to plan local teacher strategies to fight the governor’s plans. “I’ve been fielding calls all day from agitated Berkeley teachers, asking what they can do on a local level,” he said. 

But while Berkeley Unified School District Superintendent Michele Lawrence agreed with the teachers’ union leader that Schwarzenegger’s proposed education cuts “would have a significant effect on Berkeley Unified,” she disagreed that the old style of lobbying would be of help. 

“Yes, you can lobby,” Lawrence said. “Typically that’s what has happened in these types of circumstances. That’s what went on last year when the deal was cut with the Education Coalition. There was incredible momentum that was generated from communities who were concerned about the proposed cuts in education. And so we could lobby our parents and get people going up to Sacramento.” 

But Lawrence said that such lobbying is becoming less and less effective. “That kind of marching on Sacramento and waving your flag doesn’t seem to be getting the results that we would like any longer,” she said. “It has helped in public relations to get the taxpayers to support particular bond measures, because the lobbying effort talking about what desperate straits we are in has filtered back into the community and generated a sympathy with the taxpayer. But I don’t see it changing the behaviors of legislators.” 

She added that pulling together the Education Coalition to work out another deal with the governor is also not in the cards. 

“Clearly after now being slapped in the face by the governor, that isn’t a strategy that will get us anywhere,” she said. “In backing off that agreement, the governor has shut the door to that easy bringing people together collaboratively. So it’s yet to be decided what the response of the education community should be and is likely to be. That’s something that is still being worked out.” 

Meanwhile, according to the superintendent, the potential financial effect of the governor’s proposed cuts on Berkeley’s school district will be difficult, but not devastating. 

“Most of the educational community around the state was anticipating the restored Proposition 98 monies coming in based upon the deal made with the governor. Berkeley wasn’t,” she said. “I have just made it a practice not to anticipate revenues coming from the state. I don’t put it in the budget until I see the dollars. Our budgets are always based upon what we know we have, and I didn’t know that we had the restored money.” 

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