BILL NUMBER:  AB 45
  VETOED	DATE: 10/13/2007




To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am returning Assembly Bill 45 without my signature.

I support returning local governance to the Oakland Unified School
District when it is appropriate to do so.  To date, the emergency
loan to Oakland Unified has been the largest to a school district in
the state and has been under the control of the Superintendent of
Public Instruction (SPI).  While the reports produced by the Fiscal
Crisis Management and Assistance Team are valuable tools, they
provide only a snapshot of the district at a particular point in
time.  Furthermore, I am concerned that the Office of Administrative
Hearings will not be in a position to make decisions related to the
day to day management of the school district, as these matters are
generally not a matter of law, but a matter of overall educational
benefit.

As such, I am concerned with the process for determining return of
local control, as proposed in this bill. The pace at which it seeks
to restore the authority of the school board may surpass the pace at
which the state administrator can imbed sustainable reforms.  Current
law contemplates the return of the district to local control once
the SPI has a level of confidence that the improvements in the
district are sustainable.  In the interest of the educational well
being of the students, it is well worth investing the time to allow
the SPI to finish the work that has already begun.

Therefore, I am unable to sign this bill.

Sincerely,



Arnold Schwarzenegger