ARNOLD'S POLL PLANS ASSAILED PARTIES RAP TEACHER-PAY, BUDGET PROPOSALS.

Byline: David M. Drucker Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO - Having withdrawn his controversial public-employee pension plan, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger still faces a perilous path to reform as Democrats and Republicans offered differing but sharp critiques Monday of two of his three remaining special-election proposals.

It appears Schwarzenegger might have picked a winner with his plan to increase the competitiveness of congressional and legislative elections.

But his proposals to implement merit pay for public-school teachers and restrain state spending are under attack, with Democrats hitting the governor's merit-pay legislation for being excessively vague and some Republicans accusing his budget initiative of lacking the teeth to limit spending.

``It's been a sloppily drawn, sloppily presented case the governor has made,'' said Steve Maviglio, deputy chief of staff for Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuez, D-Los Angeles.

Schwarzenegger last week shelved plans to overhaul the public-employee pension system, saying the legislation needed to be rewritten to correct a serious policy flaw.

Democrats and their allies in organized labor say the same problem exists with the teacher-pay proposal, and that it should also be withdrawn.

Some Republicans, meanwhile, are dissatisfied with the budget initiative Schwarzenegger is circulating for voters' signatures in case the Democrat-led Legislature declines to vote his legislative proposal to control spending onto the ballot.

``It doesn't do what it purports to do because of significant drafting errors,'' said state Sen. John Campbell, R-Irvine, a staunch Schwarzenegger supporter who wrote a competing spending-cap initiative that the governor chose not to endorse.

Schwarzenegger does have support for his redistricting-reform plan from organizations and officials concerned that California's congressional members and legislators have undue control over drawing the boundaries of the political districts they run in.

Democrats have indicated a willingness to compromise on this issue, but have failed to significantly advance the measure in the Legislature or make a formal overture of support to Schwarzenegger. It's this lack of cooperation that characterizes the absence of good faith on the part of Schwarzenegger's critics, administration officials say.

``The governor is willing to listen to others if they have a better way of addressing California's problems. But so far the Democratic leadership has not offered any alternatives to solving them,'' press secretary Margita Thompson said.

Maviglio admits Democrats aren't philosophically inclined to support paying teachers based on how well their students perform, rather than on seniority. But he said there is room for compromise, as Democrats do like the idea of paying more to teachers who work in difficult, urban schools.

The problem with the merit-pay proposal, he said, is that it lacks the level of specificity a constitutional amendment should have for lawmakers to give it serious consideration.

Sen. George Runner, R-Lancaster, who is carrying Schwarzenegger's amendment in the Legislature, countered that it was written to allow local school districts to implement merit-pay policies that suit their needs.

Despite Schwarzenegger deciding last week to rewrite his pension overhaul to include the preservation of death and disability benefits for police officers and firefighters who fall in the line of duty - and despite receiving the backing of several public-safety groups - the governor's union opponents are not slowing their campaign against the rest of his reform proposals.

Two new ad campaigns were unveiled Monday, one by the California Nurses Association criticizing his fundraising activities and another by the Education Coalition - whose major backer is the California Teachers Association - blasting his education policy.

David M. Drucker, [phone]

david.drucker(at)dailybulletin.com