Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/3650
Governor vetoes bill to protect QEIA funding ACTION left: On the steps of the Capitol building, Assembly Appropriations Committee Chair Kevin de Leon (center), along with Twin Rivers Unified School District Superintendent Frank Porter and Sacramento City Teachers Association President Linda Tuttle, urges Gov. Schwarzenegger to sign SB 84 and protect $402 million for public education. designed to protect $402 mil- lion in Quality Educat ion Investment Act (QEIA) school revenue limits funding, but he made a commitment to the entire education community to find a solution that would pro- vide funding to all districts. The governor vetoed Sen- G ate Bill 84 by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) and Assem- bly Speaker Karen Bass (D- Los Angeles), which was de- signed to protect funding for QEIA and prevent funds from being redirected from schools’ revenue limits — districts’ ba- sic per-student funding — un- til the state superintendent of public instruction could cer- 32 California Educator | october 2009 nor noted that his administra- tion has identified funding to hold districts that receive QEIA funding harmless. He committed to working with the Legislature to implement a solution. Through its statewide mo- ov. Arnold Schwarzeneg- ger at the last moment vetoed a CTA-backed bill tify that other state or federal funds would be used to re- place the transferred revenue limit funds. While the veto killed that specific measure, discussions are continuing between the administration, legislative leaders, and the entire educa- tion community to find anoth- er resolution to the problem. In his veto message, the gover- A veto of SB 84 would cost schools: • • • • • • • $160 for each of 1.8 million students eligible for federal free or reduced price lunch program. $180 for each of 965,000 Decile 1 and Decile 2 students. $140 for each of 260,000 African-American students. $160 for each of 1.7 million Latino students. $170 for each of 785,000 students whose parents left school before graduating high school. $91 for each English Language Learner. Cuts would be nearly four times larger for minority students than for white students. Schools would lose $26 for each White student, $83 for each African-American student; and $90 for each Latino student, if the governor vetoes SB 84. Source: Strategic Education Services bilization, CTA was able to persuade lawmakers to over- whelmingly approve SB 84, the CTA-supported measure de- signed to protect $402 million for public education and to CTA photos by Len Feldman