The Mercury News, Democratic Buttmonkey First Class, has begun with the first in a series showing how the budget cuts are going to DESTROY US ALL!!!!!!

The headline on the front page: "A 'KILLER' FOR SCHOOLS!" The story can be found here. There are, naturally, no charts, no real numbers, and most of all, no comparisons with any previous year's budget.

I can't reproduce charts from files here, or print out Excel files. I can give links.

The Governor's general budget files can be found here. If you have courage, you can dive into the actual <a href=http://www.osp.dgs.ca.gov/On-Line+Publications/Governor's+Budget+2003-2004.htm>budget itself. The money ratholes are spread before you, as far as the eye can see. I reproduce just the very first page of the index of this document at the bottom of this post. If you can plow through all this, you are either a better or a crazier person than I am. If you want the education ratholes alone, be my guest and dive right in.

Here's where government money goes, folks. Pissed away into thousands of little special interests and tiny programs until it adds up to rivulets of millions of dollars, then rivers of billions. And you would find hundreds, if not thousands of people willing to swear to God that each little program is absolutely essential to the operation of the state. And you can't get a handle on it. Your sanity is at stake just paging through this crap, and that's what they count on.

Federal Government is all of this, piled higher and deeper.

Cutting to the chase:

The article describes a $5.2 billion cut in K-12 funding over 18 months. I have been unable to locate the source of this number anywhere. The closest thing I can find is a $1.3 billion cut in K-12 for the 2002-2003 fiscal year in this document.

The main point can be found deeply buried in the documents: This Administration has increased K-12 per-pupil appropriations for education by 18.9 percent since taking office. This is just in the past four years. Alone.

Growth in the number of pupils in California has been floating somewhere between 1 and 2 percent a year.

Am I supposed to believe that cutting six percent from a budget that has increased 18 percent in the past four years is going to result in some kind of education disaster? What it basically means is that we are going to spend approximately what we spent about two years ago. Oddly, I don't remember the schools being in horrible trouble back then.

Basically, funding has gone from about $5,000 per student in 1993 to $6,801 per student in 2001. (in constant dollars). (from this Excel file) The Excel file only goes up to 2001. This document has graphs and numbers implying that per-student funding for 2003 is about $6,708, after the cuts. If this all holds up, it means that the funding, after the cuts, is about a hundred bucks less than the 2000 figure from the chart, and more than the 1999 figure.

See how it works? They count on nobody doing this kind of scutwork. I am still researching the source of the Mercury News numbers, and will update later.

One amusing link I found while doing the legwork was a set of charts showing the source of our budget shortfalls, and browsing this shows exactly why when the Filthy Rich lose out, EVERYBODY loses out.

A
Abandoned Watercraft Abatement Fund (0577) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3680
Accountancy, California Board of (Consumer
Affairs)................................................ 1110
Accountancy Fund, Professions and Vocations Fund (0704) . 1110
Acupuncture Board (Consumer Affairs) .............. 1110
Acupuncture Fund (0108). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1110
Administration Account (0625) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4260
Administration Account, California Children and Families
Trust Fund (0638) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4250
Administrative Law, Office of ........................... 8910
Aeronautics Account, State Transportation Fund (0041) . . . . . 2660
Aging, Commission on..................................... 4180
Aging, Department of...................................... 4170
Agricultural Biomass Utilization Account (3021) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8570
Agricultural Export Promotion Account, California
(0124). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8570
Agricultural Labor Relations Board (renumbered
from 8300)............................................ 7300
Agricultural Pest Control Research Account (0112) . . . . . . . . . . 8570
Agriculture Account, Agriculture Fund, Department of
(0111) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8570
Air Pollution Control Fund (0115) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3900
Air Resources Board....................................... 3900
Air Toxics Inventory and Assessment Account (0434) . . . . . . . . 3900
Alcohol and Drug Programs, Department of......... 4200
Alcoholic Beverage Control, Department of.......... 2100
Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board .......... 2120
Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Fund (0117) . . . . . . . . . . . . 2120
Alcoholic Beverage Control Fund (0081/3036) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2100
Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation
Financing Authority, California ................. 0971
Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Research
Fund, California (0823). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4260
Apprenticeship Training Contribution Fund (3022). . . . . . . . . . . 7350
Architectural Examiners, California Board of
(Consumer Affairs)................................. 1110
Architectural Examiners Fund, California Board of
(0706). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1110
Armory Discretionary Improvement Account (0485). . . . . . . . . . 8940
Arts Council, California .................................. 8260
Asbestos Consultant Certification Account, Asbestos
Training and Consultant Certification Fund (0368) . . 7350
Asbestos Training Approval Account, Asbestos Training and
Consultant Certification Account (0369) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7350
Assembly (See Legislature) ............................... 0100
Assembly Operating Fund (0125) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0100
Assembly and Senate, Operating Funds of the (0160). . . . . . . . 0100
Asset Forfeiture Account, Special Deposit Fund, State
(0942). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0820
Assistance for Fire Equipment Account, State (0437) . . . . . . . . 0690
Athletic Commission, State (Consumer Affairs) ..... 1110
Attorney Fees, Department of Justice ................. 9913
Attorney General Antitrust Account (0012) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0820
Audit Fund, State (0126). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8855
Audit Repayment Trust Fund (0816) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4200
Audits, Bureau of State ................................... 8855
Augmentation for Employee Compensation.......... 9800
B
Baldwin Hills Conservancy............................... 3835
Barbering and Cosmetology Fund, State Board of (0069) . . . 1110
Bay Fill Clean-Up and Abatement Fund (0914) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3820
Beach and Coastal Enhancement Account, California,
California Environmental License Plate Fund
(0371). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3720
Behavioral Sciences, Board of
(Consumer Affairs)................................. 1110
Behavioral Science Examiners Fund, Professions and
Vocations Fund (0773) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1110
Beverage Container Recycling Fund, California (0133) . . . . . 3480
Bicycle Transportation Account, State Transportation Fund
(0045). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2660
Bi-metal Processing Fee Account, California Beverage
Container Recycling Fund (0277) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3480
Boards. See subject (e.g., Air Resources,
Control, etc.)
Boating and Waterways, Department of .............. 3680
Bond Proceeds Account, State School Building Lease-
Purchase Fund (0743) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6350
Bosco-Keene Renewable Resources Investment Fund
(0940). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3370
Boxer’s Neurological Examination Account (0492). . . . . . . . . . . 1110
Boxers Pension Account (0008) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1110
Boxer’s Pension Fund (9250). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1110
Breast Cancer Control Account (0009). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4260
Breast Cancer Fund (0004). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4260
Breast Cancer Research Account (0007) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4260
Breast Cancer Research Fund, California (0945) . . . . . . . . . . . . 6440
Building Equity and Growth in Neighborhoods (BEGIN)
Fund (6038) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2240
Business Fees Fund, Secretary of State’s (0228). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0890
Business Reinvestment Fund (0274) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0890
Business, Transportation and Housing,
Secretary for......................................... 0520
C
California Bay-Delta Authority ......................... 3870
Cal-OSHA Targeted Inspection and Consultation Fund
(0096). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7350
Cancer Research Fund (0589). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4260
Capital Outlay Planning and Studies Funding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9860
Caseload Subaccount, Sales Tax Growth Account
(0354). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5195
Cemetery Fund, Professions and Vocations Fund (0717). . . . . 1111
Central Valley Water Project Construction Fund (0506) . . . . . 3860
Central Valley Water Project Revenue Fund (0507) . . . . . . . . . . 3860
Certification Account, Consumer Affairs Fund (0166) . . . . . . . 1111
Certification Fund (0271). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5180
Child Abuse Fund, Department of Justice (0566) . . . . . . . . . . . . 0820
Child Care Account, California Children and Families
Trust Fund (0636) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4250
Child Care and Development Facilities Direct Loan
Fund (0472) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2240
Child Care and Development Facilities Loan Guaranty
Fund (0474) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2240
Child Development Policy Advisory Committee..... 4220
Child Health and Safety Fund (0279) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5180
Child Support Services, Department of ............... 5175
Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Fund (0080). . . . . . . . . . 4260