Governor touts $645M spending in arts, music and phys ed

By: PHILIP K. IRELAND - Staff Writer | Friday, August 11, 2006 11:19 PM PDT ∞

CARLSBAD ---- Touring Carlsbad High School on Friday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger touted his $645 million program to fund art, music and physical education programs and criticized school districts across the state for squandering arts education money in the past.

"Many school districts in California have discontinued those three subjects ---- art, music and physical education ---- under (the claim) that there is not enough funding," Schwarzenegger said during a highly scripted media event in the Carlsbad High library.

"The fact is, the state has funded the schools, but the school districts have done something else with the money," he said. "We don't know what, but it definitely didn't go to the kids."

Flanked by state Education Secretary Alan Bersin, Carlsbad High Principal Maggie Stanchi and Carlsbad Unified School District Superintendent John Roach, the governor said his funding initiative requires school districts to spend money on arts, music and physical education.

About $500 million of the total $645 million package will go to purchase equipment such as musical instruments and soccer balls, said Bersin before the governor's address. Those are one-time monies, he added.

An additional $145 million in year-to-year funding will go toward program development and hiring teachers.

The money is already in the state budget and has been approved by the Legislature, said Suzanne O'Connell, Carlsbad Unified's assistant superintendent of instruction. Carlsbad schools are in line for about $800,000 in one-time spending (about $75 per student) to buy equipment and about $156,000 in ongoing funds (about $15 per student) to hire teachers and develop programs, O'Connell said.

While local administrators welcomed the additional funds, some challenged the governor's notion that they squandered money.

"I would have to respectfully disagree with the governor," said Ed Brand, superintendent of the San Marcos Unified School District. "My first reaction is that the state does give us an array of mandates, some unfunded, that require encroachment on the general fund."

The state government requires local districts to provide various programs such as special education and home-to-school transportation, Brand said, without providing the money to make them happen. Those unfunded mandates force the district to make tough decisions about which programs must stay and which can be cut, he added.

Brand said San Marcos parent groups have raised money to support art and music programs in elementary and middle schools. Booster clubs provide a steady stream of money in support of high school sports there. Those fundraising monies have helped art, music and physical education programs survive, he said.

In this era of standardized testing, the threat of stiff sanctions for failing schools forces districts to focus teaching on math and English. When districts are faced with the choice, arts and music funding are usually first on the chopping block.

Faced with $21 million in budgetary cuts a few years ago, the Oceanside Unified School District made cuts in general music programs but kept its instrumental music programs, said Mary Urelius, the district's director of curriculum and instruction.

"We wanted to keep the cuts as far away from the classroom as possible," she said, adding that "classroom" meant those core subjects of math, language arts, science, and social sciences.

Schwarzenegger said his initiative will help stabilize arts education.

The money will supplement ----- not replace ---- any existing school district arts education, according to Vista Unified School District Superintendent Joyce Bales.

At Carlsbad High, Schwarzenegger watched the six-time national champion Lancer Dancers perform in the dance room at the front of the campus and heard the high school band play "Secret Agent Man" under the direction of band director Ralph Ewell.

Schwarzenegger drew laughs when he congratulated Ewell on his musical leadership, the pair shaking hands while the governor squeezed Ewell's shoulder.

"Wait a minute," said Schwarzenegger, a past Mr. Universe body-building champion. "I'm touching his shoulder. He not only knows about music, but he's all pumped up."

The governor also toured the weight training room, a cacophony of clanking weights, grunting varsity football players and glowing cheerleaders.

About 40 members of the press were herded from room to room around the campus in front of the governor as he and Bersin strolled with Stanchi and Roach.

Contact staff writer Philip K. Ireland at (760) 901-4043 or pireland@nctimes.com.

First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, email addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.