State Treasurer Phil Angelides touted his education plan during a gubernatorial campaign stop at a Salinas school Tuesday. But the children he addressed were more curious about his reading habits and favorite movies.
About 40 grade-school students and a host of local educators and media packed into the Oscar Loya School library on Cougar Drive to hear the presentation, in which the Democratic candidate outlined his strategy to combat the state's perennial teacher shortage with a potpourri of financial perks.
Some of his provisions include cutting fees for teacher training programs, increasing starting salaries and bolstering homeownership assistance for those who cannot afford to live where they teach.
Angelides also criticized Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's education record, saying school funding has languished during his time in office.
"Here in California, we're the richest place on Earth," Angelides said. "I don't think there's any excuse for shortchanging our schools, and sadly, we've done that too often. We can do better."
Schwarzenegger's campaign fired back at Angelides almost immediately, issuing rebuttals less than an hour after his appearance in Salinas.
The governor signed a record 10 percent increase in the current state education budget, to $55.1 billion, campaign spokeswoman Amanda Fulkerson said. She also criticized Angelides for not disclosing $10 billion in tax increases the campaign believes will pay for the education plan.
"Angelides was vague on his education proposal," Fulkerson said. "The only thing he's been specific on is his commitment to raise taxes on hard-working Californians."
Angelides said he will close corporate loopholes in the state's tax code in order to pay for his education plan.
Under that plan, he said, the state will meet its estimated need of about 100,000 new teachers in the next decade. A generation of lifelong educators is expected to retire during that time. Angelides encouraged the incoming fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders to take part in his plan.
"I hope that some of you will consider becoming teachers in the future," he said.
Jack O'Connell, state superintendent for public instruction, traveled with Angelides to endorse his recruitment plan.
"We need to increase our efforts to attract our best and brightest," said O'Connell, a former Ventura high teacher. "We need to pay our teachers more respect and give them a say in governance."
Angelides did not seem to modify his library stump speech much to accommodate the students in the audience, whose questions for the gubernatorial hopeful had little to do with his education plan. Among the revelations from the question-and-answer session was Angelides' favorite movie, "North by Northwest," an Alfred Hitchcock classic most of the children - and adults - had never heard of.
