Gov. George Deukmejian offered last week to boost his initial funding proposal for California public schools by an additional $100 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1.
In a statewide radio address, the Republican Governor said he would pledge another $700 million in new money for education in 1984-85 if the Democratic-dominated legislature “holds the line” on general state spending in 1983-84.
All new public-education funds, he said, “must be tied to improving the quality of education by enacting major reforms in our school system.”
Governor Deukmejian’s address, reflecting his first commitment to a 1983-84 increase in school funding larger than the $350 million he originally proposed, appeared to come in response to two separate, tax-laden school-finance-reform bills that have drawn bipartisan support in the legislature.
The legislature’s two Democratic leaders, in a radio broadcast that followed the Governor’s address, said they find strong public support this year for tax increases to aid education.
