Ed Foglia

A teacher-led coalition of education interests began a new initiative drive Monday aimed at freeing school funds from the state spending cap and guaranteeing schools a fixed share of state revenues each year. Formation of the coalition, which includes state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig, was announced by Ed Foglia, president of the 180,000-member California Teachers Assn., who said he hopes to qualify the measure for the November, 1988, ballot.

Who's the purest consumer advocate in the land? That's how Harvey Rosenfield, Voter Revolt chairman, wants to cast the race for the state's first elected insurance commissioner, judging by a memo he wrote. Purity concerns may also be behind Bill Press' decision to stop his commentary on television and radio and begin running full-time for commissioner. Tomorrow is his last day on the air.

Aides to Gov. Pete Wilson say teachers are pressuring schoolchildren to write letters, some of which have been abusive, to state politicians to protest potential school funding cuts. One letter sent to Wilson by a junior high school girl concluded: "I hate your guts and your mothers too. I hope someone stuffs a bomb in your mouth and blows your head off. And then I hope they cut off your hands and burn them."

Teachers and school districts would be forced to submit to binding arbitration to settle labor disputes under legislation proposed Wednesday that would end the spate of teachers' strikes that began in California last year. The legislation was drafted by Assemblyman Jack O'Connell, a Democratic lawmaker whose district includes Santa Maria, which recently went through a four-week teacher strike. It is being strongly supported by Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig.

The federal director of minority language affairs and the head of the state teachers union praised bilingual education Wednesday as a means of fostering better understanding of foreign culture and lashed out at English-only advocates. Rita Esquivel, director of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Language Affairs, stressed that bilingual educators must teach students about the differences in various cultures as well as a new language in order for California, which she called "the new Ellis Island," to prosper.

Gov. George Deukmejian on Thursday offered to free up $97 million for public schools in 1990-91 but insisted that the money be spent for specific purposes and not left to the discretion of local school districts.

The president of the state's largest teachers union said "deplorable" conditions in the Compton Unified School District led his group to adopt a resolution that censures the school board and asks state Superintendent of Public Instruction Bill Honig to investigate. "We're having teachers bailing out because there's no hope, no support," said Ed Foglia, president of the California Teachers Assn.

Books, films and other school materials have been challenged as objectionable by parents and organized groups in about 150 California school districts during the last two years, a Cal State Fullerton professor reported Thursday in the state's first comprehensive study on the issue. The survey of 421 school districts also found that the number of challenges is similar to what it has been in the past.

Books, films and other school materials have been challenged by parents and organized groups in about 150 California school districts that responded to the first comprehensive statewide survey on the subject, a Cal State Fullerton professor reported Thursday. But challengers succeeded in removing the objectionable book or material from schools only 13% of the time, education professor Louise Adler found.

During his first seven years in the state Assembly, Charles Bader says, he jogged about five miles a day, four days a week. But during the past year, the Pomona Republican has abandoned his regimen while running in the biggest race of his political career: challenging veteran state Sen. Ruben S. Ayala (D-Chino) in Tuesday's election. Colleagues say Bader jumped into the Senate contest partly because, in the Assembly, he felt as if he was merely running in place.