6 top governor candidates offer study in contrasts on education

Gov. Jerry Brown has managed to lift California’s education budget out of the deep financial hole that was dug by years of recession and neglect from a state government that had plenty of other desperate needs.

While Brown has had to spend much of his time and energy on fiscal damage control for the state’s schools, whoever replaces him after

the November election will face the equally daunting task of deciding what California’s education system will look like in the coming years.

The six major candidates for governor see that future through very different lenses.

Democrats Gavin Newsom of San Francisco and Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles were both big-city mayors, which gave them a close-up look at the problems of urban education and a sense of what it will take to make changes.

Republicans John Cox and Travis Allen look back longingly to an era when California education was the best in the country, with low costs

and high standards, and have a conservative vision of what it will take to get back there.

John Chiang has spent the past 20 years dealing with state financial issues, including education, and fellow Democrat Delaine Eastin was the state’s schools chief for eight years.

Despite their differences, all the candidates know that improvements are needed for California education. With 53 percent of its $131 billion budget going toward education at all levels, the state could reasonably be described as the nation’s largest school district, only with a university system attached.

The problems are everywhere.

“With a new governor on the horizon, there are questions about how K-12 education will evolve,” said a recent study by the Public Policy Institute of California. “The state could continue giving school districts broad flexibility in using state funds to meet local needs and priorities, or it could make targeted spending programs common once more.”

It’s no different when it comes to the state’s colleges and universities.

“California’s higher education system is not keeping up with the changing economy,” according to the study. “In 2030, if current trends persist, 38 percent of jobs will require at least a bachelor’s degree. But population and education trends suggest that only 33 percent of working-age adults in California will have bachelor’s degrees by 2030 — a shortfall of 1.1 million college graduates.”

Here’s where the candidates stand on education issues:

Sarahbeth Maney / Special to The Chronicle Students at San Francisco State University walk past the Cesar Chavez Student Center. With voters electing a new governor, questions loom over how California’s school system will evolve.