By Timm Herdt, therdt@VenturaCountyStar.com

January 22, 2005

SACRAMENTO -- Four days after being labeled one of "the Three Stooges" by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell on Friday was back on stage and sticking to the script.

But he pointedly declined to poke back at Schwarzenegger's personal jab.

"It was not very statesmanlike and not very productive," O'Connell said of Schwarzenegger's comment. "But I'm trying not to make it personal. It's not personal to me; I'm on the issue."

The governor's "Stooges" comment was directed at O'Connell, Attorney General Bill Lockyer and Treasurer Phil Angelides, who criticized the governor's proposed education budget.

On Friday, O'Connell talked about Schwarzenegger's comments in an interview after a news conference with fellow Democrats Angelides, Controller Steve Westly and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante at a Sacramento elementary school. The Democrats are trying to turn up the political heat and force Schwarzenegger to back down from his proposal to deny public schools $2.3 billion they are due under the terms of both the state constitution and a deal with the governor a year ago.

At the news conference, O'Connell faced a bank of television cameras and said, "We have public education today on a bread-and-butter diet, yet the governor's proposed budget takes away the bread. ... The governor, simply put, is breaking a promise to public education."

Relationship strained

During his first two years in office, O'Connell, a former legislator and the first Ventura County politician ever elected to statewide office in California, had enjoyed friendly relations with Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and then a cordial relationship with Republican Schwarzenegger.

That all changed the first week in January, after administration officials told educators they would be unable to fund education to the full amount dictated by Proposition 98, a school-funding guarantee approved by voters in 1988. With that, O'Connell was thrust into the role of chief critic of a celebrity governor with high public approval ratings.

It is a role, he said, he will not shy from.

"I look at myself as the truth squad," he said.

Is there a political risk?

"When you advocate for students, no."

Political experts from both parties agree that it is role O'Connell must play and that he likely has more to gain than to lose by assuming it.

Combining forces lends power

GOP political consultant Richard Temple said the decision of O'Connell and other Democratic state officials to band together to assail Schwarzenegger's education budget may be just what is needed to challenge a popular governor.

"By linking them together, it's three on one," he said. "That's what you need to take on the governor. It's smart for them. When the other side attacks your constituency groups ... it's a good time to say, 'We're going to defend you, we're going to support you.' "

Democratic consultant Gale Kaufman, who advises O'Connell in political campaigns, said she believes "it's incumbent on the superintendent of public instruction to speak his mind. Being a leader means understanding what you were elected to do. ... I don't think there's any risk at all when the governor is calling teachers 'special interests.' "

Schwarzenegger defends plan

Schwarzenegger, although he has not directly acknowledged having gone back on his agreement to fully fund education, has said he had no choice but to ask that schools not receive their full share of increased state tax revenues. Had he given them all that was due them, he says, it would have forced him to either make extreme cuts in health and social service programs or to abandon his commitment not to raise taxes.

Schools will still be getting enough money next year to keep pace with enrollment growth and cost-of-living increases, Schwarzenegger argues.

Education officials counter that the argument ignores the fact that schools have taken more than $9 billion less than what was entitled them over the last four years and that per-pupil funding in California is well below the national average. Further, they argue that California voters have made clear they want education funding to be protected above all else.

Leaders in the education community say that O'Connell may be the perfect point man to lead them in their fight to preserve school funding.

"He's probably better positioned than anyone, as a nonpartisan constitutional elected official, to be our chief spokesman in talking about the facts and consequences of the governor's budget," said Scott Plotkin, executive director of the California School Boards Association. "No one is better positioned than Jack O'Connell to do that."

Predecessor retaliated against

O'Connell's predecessor, Delaine Eastin, was a vocal -- and, at times, shrill -- critic of Govs. Pete Wilson and Davis. In the end, her attacks led to retaliation from the Governor's Office and a rollback in the Department of Education staff.

Plotkin said he believes O'Connell can balance the role of political critic and policy partner with the Governor's Office.

"He knows how to convey disagreements and concerns without being disagreeable," Plotkin said. "You never see Jack raise his voice or use angry words."

In an interview, O'Connell said he will continue to travel the state urging people to challenge Schwarzenegger's education proposal. But he said he intends to avoid personal criticism of the governor.

"I would be very happy to be going around the state thanking people for standing up for California's schoolchildren," he said.