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CBS CBS 5 | www2.cbs5.com - Several hundred members of the Service Employees International Union marched through Berkeley to protest Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's plans to call a special state-wide election. Josie Mooney, executive director of SEIU's northern California Local 790, told KCBS reporter Matt Bigler the election would waste state money without addressing California's problems. "We think that $80 million for a special election is silly," Mooney said. "He should take $80 million and spend it on public education, on health care and on other services that the citizens of California need." Marchers chanted "Beat back the Arnold attack," a slogan also emblazoned on the union's signature purple the t-shirts Schwarzenegger is expected to call for the special election in a speech on Monday evening. The governor hopes voters will approve measures that address redistricting, the state budget, and how much control local principles have over hiring and firing teachers. The governor and the union appear to agree what some of the problems are, although Schwarzenegger's idea of an expensive election remains controversial. "Citizens in California will not support it," said Mooney. "They need health care. They need prescription drug costs to be lower. They need better public education for their kids." One of the measure Schwarzenegger hopes to get on the ballot would allow school administrators the freedom to fire any teacher with less than five years of seniority at a school, without review. Todd Harris, a spokesman for Schwarzenegger's political committee, said the so-called Kids First Act would allow school districts to fill their schools with the best teachers available. "The way that the system works today, after two years you are virtually guaranteed a job for life," Harris told KCBS reporter Dave McQueen. Harris said the proposed ballot measure would grant "more authority to local principles and school districts to decide whether a teacher is performing well or not." Eric Heinz, a third grade teacher in Pittsburg and a member of the teacher's union board, said teacher tenure is not what's plaguing some of the state's low-performing schools. "There's not the commitment by the state both financially and in terms of the working conditions," Heinz said, adding that money for up-to-date text books was often not available. "Class sizes are too large and there isn't real reform," Heinz said. "None of these things the governor is addressing with this initiative." The governor is expected to announce the state-wide election on Monday.
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