Copyright© 2000 by School Services of California, Inc.
By the Way . . .
Republicans Propose Ways to Spend the Projected State Budget Surplus. Assembly and Senate Republican leaders recently held a press conference to outline their proposals for funding various education initiatives. High on their list is a proposal to spend $1 billion of the state's estimated $10 billion surplus on new K-12 school construction projects. New Assembly minority leader Bill Campbell (R-Villa Park) stated, "the voters want us to fix the schools and address the needs of a growing student population by building new schools. Our proposal would assist those in disproportionately poor and minority districts where school construction projects are pending." The Republican capital outlay proposal did not include any funding for community colleges or the public four-year institutions.
The proposal that got the attention of community colleges was a $320 million initiative to increase current funding. This proposal is based on the concept of "deficit reduction." During the mid-nineties when the community college system did not receive any cost of living increases the total amount during those years (if funded) would have been approximately $320 million.
In addition to the above proposals, the Republicans proposed several tax credit ideas that would encourage parents to save for their child's college education and provide incentives for employers to loan qualified employees to a public school to teach math or science.
Most of the Republican proposals will likely die in budget or policy committees. Almost certainly the proposal to provide community colleges with $320 million in new funding will not meet with the approval of Governor Davis.