BILL NUMBER:  AB 756
  VETOED	DATE: 09/29/2006




To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am returning Assembly Bill 756 without my signature.

This bill would establish the Flexible Funding for Pupil Achievement
Program, a pilot program that seeks to enhance school-site budget and
programmatic control for participating schools.  I commend the
effort to support local decision making authority and pupil
achievement.

However, I believe that eligibility to participate in such a pilot
should be limited to schools with a demonstrated capacity to advance
the academic progress of their students under the states academic
accountability system. In addition, once in the program, schools
should be required to continue demonstrating progress in student
academic achievement in order to remain eligible for continued
participation.  Only in this way can we ensure that students academic
achievement is not b eing undermined by this experiment in school
finance.

I am also concerned that this bill does not provide for adequate
budget and programmatic transparency.  For local control to function
well, it is vital that the local community is fully informed and
empowered to participate in the decision making.

Finally, my bi-partisan committee on education excellence is doing a
thoughtful review of education funding issues.  After those reports
are completed, I look forward to working with education leaders on
distilling the information and enacting changes that we believe will
improve Californias education system.

For these reasons, I am unable to sign this bill.

Sincerely,



Arnold Schwarzenegger