By Mark Baldassare, research director, Public Policy Institute of California
This opinion article appeared in the Sacramento Bee on June 29, 2003

Gov. Gray Davis declared when he was sworn into office in January 1999 that his "first, second and third priority is education." This message clearly resonated with Californians who, over two decades, had watched their public schools slide from elite to below average in national rankings.

In the first few years of Davis' tenure, budget surpluses allowed him and the Legislature to shower local public schools with much-needed cash. And the public's commitment to investment in education was justified by gains in student test scores.

How quickly things change. Today, the state's leaders have turned from heroes to goats as they propose education cuts to help reduce a $38 billion state budget deficit. Although less draconian than earlier proposals, the current plan to close the gap does not spare public education.

As talk of teacher layoffs and less money per pupil trickle down to local school districts, the public is left to wonder if the governor and Legislature have gone back on their word or lost sight of the people's priorities.

Today, two things are certain: The public is not happy about this reversal of fortunes for public education and they are pointing fingers. In the most recent statewide survey of 2,003 adults from the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, seven in 10 likely voters say they disapprove of the way the governor and Legislature are handling the state budget, spending and taxes.

With six in 10 saying their state is headed off track, Californians are especially harsh in their critique of the "education governor." Considering the increasingly likely prospect of an historic recall election, 51 percent of likely voters say they favor removing Davis from office, while 43 percent support his completing the four-year term.

How unpopular are the spending cuts for schools? Eight in 10 Californians say they are opposed to reduced funding in this area. Moreover, six in 10 say that public education is the one area of the state budget they most want to protect from spending cuts -- placing it far ahead of health and human services, higher education and prisons.

This consensus about saving schools from the budget axe makes for strange bedfellows in this politically diverse state: Democratic and Republican voters, residents of Northern and Southern California, the old and young, and residents from across the economic spectrum all line up squarely behind public education.

The result of this rare demonstration of unity? While politicians are reluctant to mention the "T" word today -- proposing state tax increases to prevent cuts in school funding -- the public is already there. Although voters are lukewarm to the governor's plans to raise vehicle license fees, income taxes and the sales tax to reduce deficit, two in three voters support raising taxes specifically to maintain current funding for schools -- including three in four Democrats and half of Republicans.

Does the current red ink in the state budget make the public wary of borrowing more money to improve education? Apparently not. While six in 10 Californians say they don't like the idea of the state borrowing its way out of the state budget deficit, they remain committed to taking on even more debt if the recipient of the largess is public education. Three out of four Californians -- and a majority of Democrats and Republicans -- say they would support the $12. 3 billion state bond for school facilities already slated for next year's ballot.

In what may prove to be a fatal political blunder, the state's leaders from both political parties have misread the public will. California's notoriously stingy voters are known to send mixed signals on fiscal issues -- calling for lower taxes and more spending -- but they do see the need to open up their wallets to keep the school funds flowing.

As voters suspend their partisan bickering and ideological differences to protect the gains they see being made in the education arena, they watch in disbelief as their state representatives show little inclination to follow suit.

Public schools are the great exception in an era when government institutions are treated with ambivalence and mistrust. As the governor and Legislature ponder their next budget moves, and their own political futures, they would be well served to recognize that voters are united in their belief that schools represent the state's future, and to remember that the public is most unforgiving when it comes to broken promises.