News in Brief: A State Capitals Roundup

Despite his ambitious legislative agenda for schools, California Gov. Gray Davis proposed only a modest 4.6 percent spending increase for K-12 education in the 1999-2000 budget plan he released Jan. 8.

Under Mr. Davis' first budget as governor, California's 8,000 public K-12 schools would get $23.1 billion from the state--up from $22.5 billion in the current fiscal year. The increase would raise per-pupil spending to $5,944, which is $192 above the current spending levels for the...