Only four months into his term as governor, Arnold
Schwarzenegger has been heavily involved in California’s
education community.
From his earliest campaign platform to the present day,
Schwarzenegger has shown attentiveness to education in California.
Many of his critics, though, wonder if the administration has too
heavily emphasized primary and secondary education and lacked focus
for postsecondary education.
Politicians often protect K-12 education because the voter
places a high premium on youth education. Cutting primary or
secondary education damages popular support for and approval
ratings of politicians.
Since Schwarzenegger took office, the University of California
has faced massive potential cuts in programs, funding and financial
aid while K-12 students have seen strong support.
When Schwarzenegger released his state budget proposal for the
2004-2005 fiscal year, funding for the UC stood to be cut by $372
million and California State University faced potential cuts of
$242 million.
The budget proposal advocated an enrollment cap on incoming
freshmen for the UC and CSU. It set forth a plan to reduce
enrollment in the universities by 10 percent and to divert these
eligible applicants from the UC and CSU to community colleges
around the state before transferring to a university.
Though the official budget has not yet been released, the
enrollment cap and diversion to community colleges has already
taken effect for the coming school year.
But Schwarzenegger’s esteem in the higher education
community has been on the rebound since his budget proposal with
the recent passing of Proposition 55, a bill allocating a bond of
$12.3 billion to California’s schools.
The bill, which passed by only a slight margin in the March 2
election, generated $70 million for UCLA specifically.
Many organizations, including the California Teachers
Association, see Proposition 55 as the next logical step to
preserve the integrity of Proposition 98.
Proposition 98, a bill implemented in 1988, provides several
complex formulas to calculate the yearly education budget for
California. The bill guarantees funding for K-12 education and
community colleges on the order of about 35 to 40 percent of the
State General Fund revenues.
Proposition 98 has acted as sort of a safety net for education
funding in California.
But the protection provided by Proposition 98 often forces
legislators to make cuts in other areas so long as they avoid
primary or secondary education. As a result, these cuts are not
necessarily the most practical.
“K-14 (education) has the protection of Prop. 98 and that
means that there are things that can’t be done if the
legislators want to,” said Barbara Sinclair, professor and
Hoffenberg Chair in the UCLA political science department.
“We have put ourselves in a kind of strait jacket,”
she said.
Sinclair also said higher education often gets lost in the fray
as primary and secondary education receive near-universal support
and colleges and universities face severe cuts.
“We’re a substantial pot of money not protected by
some sort of constitutional amendment,” she said.
Many of the implementations of the Schwarzenegger administration
have been efforts to repair the suffering economy. Some believe
these steps have been attempts to make the best of a bad
situation.
“I think he has worked very hard in the midst of what is
really a budget crisis,” said Ann Shadwick, the higher
education director for the California Teachers Association.
Shadwick said Schwarzenegger’s efforts have shown a
commitment to K-12 education and community colleges despite being
faced with a budget deficit larger than he had anticipated upon
taking office.
As he campaigned for governor, Schwarzenegger promised to
eliminate much of the bureaucracy of education to give more power
and responsibility to schools. He also pledged to consolidate
programs in the state education budget to increase efficiency and
reduce waste in the budget. He has yet to tackle these issues
directly.
In addition to cuts in funding, the governor’s budget
proposal would cut many outreach programs from schools. These
programs encourage students to pursue education beyond high
school.
“The governor’s budget would shatter
California’s historic commitment to its public colleges and
universities,” said California State Treasurer Phil Angelides
in a statement.
“We must fight to protect and increase investments in
these institutions,” he said.
Schwarzenegger has tried to offset budget cuts to the UC and CSU
by increasing funding for community colleges by $120 million, but
many believe this cannot account for the severe cuts to the
universities.
The budget proposal is currently being revised and is not
scheduled to be released in final form until July.