ShareThisThe state of California finds itself -- predictably -- in another budget crunch.The smoke-and-mirrors budget that the Legislature finally passed and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a month ago assumed revenue numbers that were out of date and clearly wrong, and the budget is now in complete disarray.Just days later, the administration acknowledged that the deteriorating economy had made those revenue numbers inoperative by at least several billion dollars. As the economy continues to falter, the budget is now upside-down by as much as $10 billion. Schwarzenegger said Monday he'll call the Legislature back for a lame-duck session a day after next week's election to do something. What, if anything, remains very uncertain.The governor and lawmakers presumably could reach even deeper into the gimmick vault, but if the emerging numbers on the deficit's dimensions are accurate, mere bookkeeping tricks would not be enough.This is clearly not a one-year glitch but a crisis that will last for years, which means the state's politicians no longer can evade the equally difficult choices of making real spending reductions, not merely postponements, and/or imposing new taxes.Schwarzenegger and Democrats want new taxes, but they would require Republicans' votes. So far they've been intransigent - and are even calling for business tax cuts to stimulate the economy.There's a theory kicking around that the governor might garner enough votes for taxes from termed-out GOP members by dangling administration jobs or other incentives, but so far it's merely a theory.If spending cuts are on the agenda that means, inevitably, that school aid would be on the block since it is, by far, the largest piece of the budget pie.School spending is vulnerable not only because it's such a huge pot -- 40-plus percent of the budget -- but because as state revenues fall ever further below the rosy projections, the constitutional floor of school spending also drops. In words, the Legislature and the governor could legally cut schools by billions of bucks, perhaps $4 billion or more.The Education Coalition, headed by the powerful California Teachers Association, is already beseeching Schwarzenegger and lawmakers to leave them alone, contending that the current budget already shorts schools by several billion dollars, thus renewing the perennial debate over school finance.Over the past 10 years, spending on K-12 schools in California, both state aid and local property taxes, has risen by an average of 4.9 percent a year while enrollment has risen by under 1 percent per year, according to data from the Legislature's budget office. Most of the remaining 4-plus percent is eaten up by inflation, leaving real per-pupil spending increasing at around 1 percent a year.By necessity, school spending may be on the block, but no one should assume that it's lavish now. In fact, on a per-pupil basis, it's below the national average.(E-mail Dan Walters at dwalters(at)sacbee.com. Back columns, www.sacbee.com/walters. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Budget woes put California schools on cutting board
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