Editorial: Measure will hurt education
Of the eight ballot measures
before California voters, Proposition 76 has the most potential to hurt
education.
One of three propositions that aim to amend the California Constitution,
Proposition 76 walks an odd tightrope of promoting fiscal conservatism
while giving virtually unlimited power to the governor.
While the majority of Proposition 76 deals with spending and borrowing
limitations, the measure does contain language that would give the governor
the unilateral ability to cut state funding:
“If the Governor determines that total expenditures are expected
to exceed the limit imposed… the Governor shall propose to the Legislature
or implement to the extent practicable by executive order measures to
reduce or eliminate the excess expenditures.”
The limit mentioned is also part of Proposition 76 and would be determined
by adding the previous year’s total state expenditures with the
average annual growth in general and special fund revenues for the three
previous years.
Though Proposition 76 directs the governor to limit funds only where they
exceed their limitations, so many programs in the state require so much
more money every year, giving the governor an open field in which to cut
funding. Healthcare, law enforcement and education at all levels would
be fair game.
Also, one should note the language of the measure. Nowhere does it specify
the governor must cut funding or where. What services have priority? How
much would a program have to be over its limit before its funding is cut?
These are questions that must be answered before a measure passes that
gives such arbitrary power to a single person.
And of course there are many more such questions. So many more that only
a legislature with a popular mandate could take on this task.
While the idea behind much of Proposition 76 is welcomed in a high-spending
state, certain services shouldn’t be cut. In fact, many services
simply can’t be, such as those mentioned above. Health?
Safety? Learning? Which of these
takes the first hit is a difficult decision to make, but to students struggling
to pay for tuition and books on top of rent, food, car insurance and now
gas, all the while watching their loan debt increase, the answer is more
obvious.
Education is something that cannot be ruled by fiscal conservatism, at
any level.
Not only does each and every student depend on education for individual
needs, but the state needs an increasingly educated citizenry to run an
increasingly needy and complex California. To limit education spending
at any level and for any length of time would cause untold damage.
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