North County Times

NORTH COUNTY ---- Hundreds of teachers from throughout the region hit the streets Tuesday ---- or, more accurately, the freeway overpasses ---- to rally against what they say is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's attempt to hijack state funds that are guaranteed for schools under Proposition 98.

North County educators gathered on several overpasses that cross Highway 78, from Jefferson Avenue in Oceanside to Interstate 15 in Escondido.
The purpose of the rally, organized by the California Teachers Association, was to make people aware that the governor is refusing to keep his word and honor Proposition 98, a constitutional amendment that guarantees certain state funding for schools, participants and organizers said.

"We're letting people know that the governor broke his promises," said Terry Hart, a speech therapist at Christa McAuliffe Elementary School in Oceanside. "We can't balance the budget on the backs of students."

Prop. 98 requires the state to set aside a certain amount of the budget for public schools and community colleges, an amount that currently adds up to about 40 percent of the state's budget. The Legislature and governor can suspend Prop. 98 if they vote to do so.

Last year, Schwarzenegger made a deal with educators to suspend Prop. 98 and give schools about $2 billion, or half the $4 billion guaranteed by the amendment. The deal included provisions that the other $2 billion be paid back to schools and that any unexpected tax revenue go to schools.

Now, school leaders want $1.1 billion in unanticipated tax revenues this year that they claim they are entitled to under the measure.

Schwarzenegger has said those funds instead should go to help solve the coming fiscal year's budget deficit. The state will spend more money on education next year than ever before, and Schwarzenegger's budget calls for spending some $10,000 per student next year. Educators say that because of accounting tricks, schools don't receive nearly that much per student.

On the overpass at Jefferson Avenue in Oceanside, about 150 teachers turned out with signs promoting Prop. 98 and slamming the governor. Their presence, cheering and waving elicited numerous honks of support from drivers passing the rally.

David Lee, the president of the Oceanside Teachers Association, said that he considered the Jefferson rally a rousing success.

"We need this because life as we know it for education is under great threat ... from the governor," Lee said. "He broke his promise that he would pay (the money) back."

In Vista, the entire east side of the Escondido Avenue overpass was clogged with more than 200 teachers and some students, many of whom were earning credits for community participation.

High schooler Amanda Aguilar said students turned out to get credit and support Prop. 98.

For Fredes Badillo, a teacher at Crestview Elementary in Vista, Tuesday was the story of public education.

"It's too bad we have to do this so often, but this is life in public education," she said from the Escondido Avenue overpass.

The overpass at Vista Village Drive was filled with dozens of Prop. 98-supporting teachers, while the turnout at the Emerald Drive overpass in Vista and El Camino Real overpass in Oceanside was lighter.

At the Escondido Avenue overpass in Vista and the Jefferson Avenue overpass in Oceanside, Oceanside police and the California Highway Patrol made the participants keep walking back and forth across the bridge so the teachers would not be loitering.

Scott Smith, a special education teacher at Vista High School, said Tuesday's rally was all about getting the word out to the public. Smith was holding a handwritten sign on neon poster board that read: "Support your teachers, nurses, police and fireman. Just say no to Arnold."

"It brings an awareness of the issue to the public," Smith said of the rally. "By the honking (of passing cars), it looks like we're getting a lot of support."