Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, state Sen. Bruce McPherson and five
third-party candidates focused on education issues in a debate
Tuesday, as each tried to convince California voters he or she is
best fit for the second-highest office in the state.
McPherson, R ““ Santa Cruz, and Bustamante, a Democrat,
both claimed to be the better fit to deal with a wide variety of
educational challenges, as the seven candidates touched on
everything from funding for university enrollment growth to the
role morality should play in schools.
The Nov. 5 election has important implications for education and
for the University of California in particular.
Besides being second in line to the governor and having the
tie-breaking vote in the state senate, the lieutenant governor sits
as an ex-oficio member on the UC Board of Regents.
McPherson cited his work on class-size reduction and Cal Grant
legislation Tuesday, while Bustamante trumpeted his service on the
board of regents, both as lieutenant governor, and, earlier,
speaker of the assembly.
McPherson, though, has criticized Bustamante’s attendance
record at board meetings. In September, McPherson said Bustamante
attended just 17 percent of regents meetings, though independent
assessment and figures from Bustamante’s office show that
percentage to be higher.
Bustamante proudly stands by his record as a regent saying he
has worked to ensure the board is not at the forefront of a
national political agenda ““Â namely the anti-affirmative
action campaign.
Additionally, Bustamante said he worked hard as a regent to
ensure that the UC is properly funded, noting that in the early
1990s the UC was so poorly funded by public money that some thought
it would eventually become a private institution.
But still the university’s fiscal outlook is hardly
positive ““ a billion dollar state budget shortfall threatens
the university’s funds when the UC, facing massive enrollment
growth, needs them most.
Both Bustamante and McPherson said they supported Proposition
47, which would give hundreds of millions to the UC for capital
developments.
Bustamante said if re-elected he will stand against student fee
increases as a quick-fix for budget problems.
“What happens when (fees) go up?” he said after the
debate in a phone interview. “Admissions drop … people
don’t go.”
“I say “˜no’ to raising student
fees.”
McPherson is dedicated to keeping “UC campuses strong
while ensuring they are kept affordable,” said press aide
Adam Mendelsohn.
Mendelsohn noted that as a senator McPherson authored a bill to
prevent a raise in student fees. The bill never made it out of
committee.
McPherson ““Â a self-described moderate Republican
““ noted that when Bustamante and Gov. Gray Davis took office
the state enjoyed a billion dollar surplus, and now faces a billion
dollar deficit. McPherson said, if elected, he would help
California “regain fiscal sanity.”
The debate, which took place at the Adelphia Cable studio and
was moderated by Bill Rosendahl, was unique in that it included
five third-party candidates ““ Libertarian Pat Wright, Green
Party candidate Donna J. Warren, Reform party candidate Paul Jerry
Hannosh, Natural Law candidate Kalee Przybylak, and American
Independent Jim King.
King and Hannosh opposed the idea that education problems can be
fixed simply by money.
King says his daughter attends a parochial school because he is
sure she’s getting a quality education there, rather than at
a public school.
“I should get a voucher for that,” he said.
Hannosh, a public school teacher himself, said the problem is
that morality isn’t taught in schools.
“We’re restricted by our secular, Godless public
school systems,” he said.
For some the problem is a bit simpler. Warren said teachers are
underpaid ““Â and that needs to change.
“When we talk about who gets the money ““ the school
teachers are not getting the money,” she said.
Recently prison guards received a 30 percent pay increase, while
public school teachers received a 1.3 percent pay increase, she
said.