Students may relish a suggestion by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to shorten the school year by five days to help save the state money, but education officials say the plan faces numerous obstacles.

At the forefront is the fact that unions representing teaching and nonteaching personnel would have to agree to what would amount to a pay cut for their workers.

When Schwarzenegger released his budget proposal last week, it was said that cutting the five days starting in the fall will lead to a savings of around $1.1 billion for the state, which faces a projected $42 billion deficit over the next 18 months. State Controller John Chiang said last week that the state may have to start issuing IOUs as soon as Feb. 1.

The governor's proposal would cut the school year from 180 days to 175. Riverside County superintendent Kenneth Young said the number of instructional minutes required by the state would likely stay the same, with the lost time spread out over the remaining days.

"The employees would work five less days and theoretically receive five less days of compensation," Young said.

To be enacted, there would have to be changes made to the state's education code by the state Board of Education, he said.

Young participated in a conference call Monday with the governor's financial staff and school officials.

"The consensus was it would be very difficult to be successful in collectively bargaining a reduced work year," Young said.

Local teachers union leaders say the proposal is not likely to fly with their members, whose contracts are reached through collective bargaining. Those contracts include everything from compensation and benefits to how long teachers work each day and each school year.

"It's absolutely a hard sell," said Jody Sanchez, president of the Menifee Teachers Association, which represents teachers in the Menifee Union School District. "It's a hard sell to teachers and a hard sell to parents. There are a lot of other things to cut.

"The teachers association is totally against this. It is not the way to balance the budget."

Anne McNulty, president of the Temecula Valley Educators Association said she hasn't discussed the issue with union members in the Temecula Valley Unified School District, but she doesn't think they would support the change.

"I don't know how decreasing class time can be beneficial to students," McNulty said.

She said teachers are already stretched trying to teach everything they have to meet state standards.

Sanchez said she is disappointed that state budget cuts constantly target schools.

"It's very frustrating for the governor and Legislature to keep wanting to balance the budget at the expense of the students," Sanchez said. "Kids need to be in school."

Murrieta Valley Unified School District Superintendent Stan Scheer said the district would not consider reducing the number of days that school is in session.

"If I had my way, students would have a longer school year, not shorter." Sheer said in a statement. "If we are really interested in reducing the achievement gap and preparing students for the 21st century, we would find a way to fund a longer school year, not shorten it. We are putting band-aids on tumors with our public policy regarding education."

Others agree that class time should not be cut.

Young said students need enough time to receive instruction for both state and Advanced Placement exams.

"Reducing the academic school year could have a negative effect on student academics and performance," he said. "You want to make sure students receive a full level of instruction before taking tests."

Sanchez, who teaches kindergarten, worries that if days are cut, the same will happen to programs such as music, art and dance.

"We're here for more than just the kids' academics. We need to build the whole child," she said. "Kids need to learn to laugh and love school."

Lake Elsinore Unified School District board President Kim Cousins called the proposal a double-edged sword.

"I personally think that reducing the school year by a week is not going to be harmful to kids," he said. "… On the flip side, it's a reduction in pay for employees. That's always difficult to do."

Cousins said the school year could be restructured to make up for five lost days.

"At the end of the day, the question becomes, with the state of the economy, is it more beneficial for the community to have everyone employed at some reduction in pay or have 10 percent not employed?"

If the proposal is approved, it would mark the first time California has reduced the length of the school year, according to the state Department of Education.

The proposal also calls for cutting about $5 billion from public schools over the next 18 months, with about $2.1 billion coming from the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. It also would also defer $2.8 billion in payments due early in 2009 to the next fiscal year.

Contact staff writer Craig Shultz at (951) 676-4315, Ext, 2625, or cshultz@californian.com.