Weeks after displacing Gray Davis in a historic recall election, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was inaugurated on Nov. 17. After being sworn in and making his first address as governor, Schwarzenegger repealed the $4 billion net increase of the vehicle license fee, making good on a promise made throughout his recall campaign.

The spirit of fulfilling a promise to excise the car tax hike was noble indeed ‹ immediately lending credibility to Arnold’s vows to reform the struggling state ‹ but only time will tell how successful the action will be. With potential revenue lost because of the repeal, Schwarzenegger’s team will have to draw up creative alternatives in order to erase the annual deficit and staggering debt.

One possible option that Schwarzenegger’s advisers have suggested is submitting a $15 billion bond for vote in the March election. While this long-term bond will most likely cost the state $30 billion over 30 years, it will most likely stabilize an education budget that has already seen fee increases in colleges and cuts from kindergarten to kinetics research throughout the state’s education programs.

In addition, it will also replace smaller bond issues made by Davis to cover earlier budget gaps that a court ruled illegal.

Nonetheless, funding for education needs to be transformed into a pressing issue with Schwarzenegger. While he made vague claims that education would be protected if he were governor, Schwarzenegger must now specify how such a sweeping claim can be put into practice.

If a policy setting an annual rate of increase in student fees is established, California’s families could plan better for tuition costs from year to year and not suddenly face a 30 percent hike as they did in the last year. Student fees and program cuts have plagued the University of California since 2001 and restoration of lost funding is essential to bring student life, pioneering research and outreach at the university back to former standards.