SIMI VALLEY : Wright Is Criticized Over Education Cuts

Democratic state Senate candidate Hank Starr charged Friday that his opponent, Assemblywoman Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley), helped push through funding cuts that will devastate public education in California.

Starr, who is opposing Wright for the 19th district state seat being vacated by Ed Davis, lambasted the assemblywoman in a prepared statement.

The budget “drives a stake through the very heart of public education and makes it increasingly likely that a new generation of Californians will end up on the state’s welfare and unemployment rolls,” the statement said.

The new state budget cut services and hiked student fees in the state’s public university systems.

For elementary and secondary education, the budget guarantees the same amount of spending per pupil over the next three years as in 1991-’92. But education officials have said this amounts to a cut because of schools’ rising costs in areas such as supplies and employee benefits.

Instead of cutting education funding, Starr’s statement said, lawmakers should have approved a new tax on oil pumped in the state, which could raise $220 million.

Wright responded to the charges Friday, saying approval of the budget crossed partisan lines. “It wasn’t my vote alone, was it?” Wright asked. “The Democrats voted for the cuts” also.

In addition, Wright said, “education had to take a little bit of a hit,” because it’s one of the biggest parts of the state budget.

The funding cuts may encourage state education officials to run public education more efficiently, she said.

“There’s reform that is necessary,” Wright said.

Wright also disputed Starr’s assertion that a tax on oil pumped in the state could raise hundreds of millions of dollars.

Many oil fields in California are owned by individuals and small businesses that could be put out of business if they were forced to pay such a tax, she said.