It would seem that, state budget issues being what they are, California's public school districts are going to have an opportunity to test a theory. And that theory is: When times are tough, you adapt. If you don't adapt, you don't survive.

That is the harsh reality of a situation in which Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed state budget is an estimated $16 billion short, and to help soften the blow, the governor has recommended chopping $4.8 billion out of school spending.

Not much of a start to Schwarzenegger's supposed "Year of Education in California."

That was one of the governor's re-election themes, which generally sound better before an election. Being in office has a tendency to deflate even the noblest of notions.

The state's budget deficit is going to cause problems for a lot of people, across a broad socioeconomic spectrum. But it seems unlikely that any single category will be gored more completely than our school systems, which have been fairly easy targets for governors seeking ways to mitigate the effects their poor budgeting skills by raiding public education.

The irony, of course, is that enough members of the California Legislature believe it's OK to chop $4.8 billion from education spending, while at the same time refusing to close a tax loophole that favors the state's wealthiest residents. Ah, those lawmakers and their priorities.

Ted Mitchell, former president of Occidental College and current member of the California Board of Education, has a few ideas on how to rescue education -- chiefly that public schools need to be given more local autonomy, much like charter schools, and that the state needs to reform the way it evaluates what works, and what doesn't.

In other words, restoring the $4.8 billion education is scheduled to lose in this budget cycle might save some teachers' jobs, but it won't solve the fundamental problem, which is that too much money goes into programs that don't accomplish much of anything.

The question is, can lawmakers who are enamored with tax loopholes understand such a concept?

(March 5, 2008)