Readers question state Senate leader's sincerity

FROM SACRAMENTO — Some political sins are practically unforgivable. Sins like blatant hypocrisy. Covering up instead of fessing up. Soliciting sex in a public restroom.

This column is merely about hypocrisy -- at least its perception.

E-mails began pouring in almost immediately after my last column.

I'd written about new Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) declaring that his "No. 1 priority" -- the "most important" agenda item for California -- was revamping schools with sufficient career tech education to prepare students for the "new economy."

I pointed out that the percentage of high school students taking some course in career tech -- formerly called vocational education -- had fallen from 74% in 1987 to 29% last year. Meanwhile, companies have been complaining that California schools aren't producing enough skilled workers.

Blame the elitist attitude that if a kid doesn't obtain a four-year college degree, he's doomed to failure. So high school curricula are shaped to meet university requirements. Also blame the high cost of career tech courses, which places them at risk during every budget crisis.

Steinberg and other Senate Democrats proposed a packet of career tech legislation. Senate Republican leader Dennis Hollingsworth of Murrieta chimed in that "there is a lot of common ground across party lines" on career tech.

But wouldn't you know it: As I quickly learned, Steinberg -- along with the other legislative leaders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- had just negotiated a deficit-reduction package that whacked career tech funding by 15% this fiscal year and an additional 5% the next. Moreover, most programs were left vulnerable to complete elimination by penny-pinching school districts.

"A lot of 'common ground' and a lot of hypocrisy," e-mailed one school superintendent.

An assistant superintendent wrote: "Sen. Steinberg and his cronies . . . have just completed a state budget that not only will DECREASE [tech ed] in high schools, but also in the adult education system."

An Orange County career tech teacher e-mailed that she had read my column "with great interest and horror." She was on break between classes and invited me to call.

"My message for Steinberg," Regina Blankenhorn told me, "is that if he really wants to do career tech education, we're already doing it. We don't want him reinventing the wheel."