A post-election poll of California voters, released last month, indicates that public education is their single most important political issue, and while Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's popularity remains high - 60-plus percent - just 40 percent of voters support him on schools.[...]

The specific issue is Schwarzenegger's decision not to grant schools the $4.7 billion increase in state aid the Education Coalition says is due under Proposition 98, the very complex school finance measure approved by voters in 1988. Instead, Schwarzenegger would give the schools roughly half of that, saying it's necessary to protect vital health and welfare programs.