(January 6, 2004) -- LBReport.com posts below reaction by LBUSD Superintendent Christopher Steinhauser to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's State of the State Address.

Since state budget decisions directly affect local education (and as we previously reported, LBUSD staff has indicated School Board members will have to make cuts in the current and following fiscal year), LBReport.com invited LBUSD to provide comment following the Governor's Address.

We post below a statement by LBUSD Superintendent Christopher Steinhauser, conveyed to us by LBUSD spokesman Dick Van Der Laan after the Address. Mr. Van Der Laan indicated that the Superintendent had just finished taking part in the evening's School Board meeting (which coincided with the Address) and reviewed the Address text via the internet to provide us with comment.

[LBReport.com appreciates the quick response and applauds the savvy use of the internet.]

The text of Superintendent Steinhauser statement follows:

LBUSD spokesman Van Der Laan noted that although the State of the State Address provides an early general look at what the Governor intends, the Governor's actual proposed budget -- with numbers that will be released on Friday Jan. 9 -- will give LBUSD a better idea of details and impacts locally.

Mr. Van Der Laan said that when the Governor's proposed budget is released, LBUSD will analyze in detail what it could mean for Long Beach, noting that what the Governor proposes ultimately becomes a matter for the legislature to decide (due by June).