ARNOLD VS. THE TEACHERS DID HE BREAK HIS PROMISE?

Byline: Harrison Sheppard  Sacramento Bureau

SACRAMENTO - Did Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger break a promise to teachers or not?

In television ads and grass-roots efforts, education proponents and Democratic groups continue to attack the governor, saying he broke a promise to repay schools $3.1 billion in the state budget signed last month.

The governor says he didn't break his promise: He will repay the money - but he never promised to do it this year.

Ultimately, specific terms of the deal were never put into writing so neither side has been able to produce proof in the war of words.

``This is the way government is run all the time - on the word of officials,'' said Robert Stern, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies. ``Very rarely is it written down. Because you don't want to have lawsuits over it. And it's just bad form. Nobody ever writes anything down, because they trust each other, generally.''

The spat can be traced to a handshake deal in December 2003 when the governor convinced the Education Coalition - representing associations for teachers, school administrators, school boards and others - to go along with his plan to suspend education funding guaranteed under Proposition 98 in the 2004-05 budget.

The only written terminology that relates to the agreement is in the act suspending Proposition 98 for the 2004-05 budget and a less-official report that explains the governor's budget.

The act suspending Proposition 98 that year is only 259 words, but it outlines that funding for K-14 education in 2004-05 shall be $2 billion less than what it is legally required to be under Proposition 98.

It does not spell out repayment terms.

The governor's budget report also refers to the deal, saying, ``This action will create an additional $2 billion maintenance factor that is required to be restored to the Proposition 98 budget in future years.

``Based on current projections of future revenue growth and other economic factors, the additional maintenance factor could be restored to the guarantee over the next three years ... Thus, the Administration projects that this rebasing of the guarantee will impact school funding for only four years.''

In other words, the administration says it has at least three years to gradually restore the money.

Meanwhile, though, the $2 billion figure has grown to $3.1 billion because revenues were higher than expected, which raised the calculation for the amount due schools under Proposition 98.

``We made it abundantly clear a year and a half ago that this obligation would indeed be repaid,'' said H.D. Palmer, spokesman for the governor's Department of Finance.

``But the question of whether it would be repaid is not an issue. It is going to. Any statement that the governor said anything to the contrary is false.''

But Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, who participated in the Education Coalition discussions in December 2003 that led to the agreement, said he and others interpreted the verbal agreement to mean the money would be repaid this year.

``We never talked about a four-year plan,'' O'Connell said. ``It's revisionist history and it's disappointing. The governor clearly broke his promise to the children of California.''

Amid growing resentment, those who think the governor broke his promise continue to push a public campaign in an effort to try to get some of the funds restored when the Legislature returns to session Aug. 15.

``There's still a hope from the Education Coalition's perspective that somehow the Legislature and the governor can figure out a way to make schools whole in terms of the $3.1 billion that the coalition feels they're owed under Proposition 98,'' said coalition spokesman Roger Salazar.

``Failing that, we want to make sure we can draw as much attention to it as possible, so folks out there understand this is what's been happening and they'll put pressure on their legislators or the governor to figure out some way to make schools whole either this year or in the long term.''

Ultimately, Stern said that if the perception that a politician has broken his word becomes strong enough, it could affect re-election.

``If you're a politician and you break the agreement, then people are likely to not vote for you in the future,'' Stern said. ``So there is some consequence to it. There's been a lot of consequences for the governor. He's gotten a lot of bad press over this.''

Harrison Sheppard, [phone]

harrison.sheppard(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

box

Box:

EDUCATION ISSUES

SOURCE: Daily News research

Gregg Miller/Staff Artist