During a back-to-school pep talk for the Bassett Unified School District, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell included a plea that voters retain Gov. Gray Davis.

On Oct. 7, voters will decide whether Davis will remain in office during a recall election.

Speaking before 400 staff and faculty members in the auditorium of Victory Outreach Church in La Puente, O'Connell, an elected official, suggested that Davis remain.

O'Connell said the recall could lead to other elections that would be disruptive to the state's government and education systems.

"I want you to remember that many of the improvements that have been made and adopted in public education our accountability system, world-class standards, investment in technology and computers and class-size reduction were made under the current administration,' he told the crowd.

A former high school teacher, O'Connell said he taught students about the recall process.

He called the current effort an abuse, saying that recalls should be reserved for malfeasance or criminal acts committed while in office.

Not even the strongest proponent of the recall has suggested a crime was committed, O'Connell said.

"I'm concerned that this election could lead to more elections and that we could see further destabilization of the government in Sacramento, which would not be healthy for the state and would not be healthy for public education,' O'Connell said.

During his talk, O'Connell illustrated the depth and breadth of the budget crisis.

To put the deficit in perspective, O'Connell said $10 billion is equivalent to closing all nine University of California campuses and all 23 California State University campuses, in addition to releasing 170,000 felons now incarcerated in prison.

"That's the magnitude of the state budget crisis,' O'Connell said.

Addressing Bassett Unified, O'Connell commended the district for continued improvement.

But he did not speak about efforts to turn around the high school, which did not make its federal Adequate Yearly Progress goal and could face a state takeover unless scores improve with the release of the state's Academic Performance Index in October.

O'Connell drew applause from the audience when he called the state's testing system "a little rough around the edges.' He also related that he feels there are too many tests.

"I personally think we have too many tests for students in California,' he said. "But we have taken steps to reduce the amount of time we have taken students out of the classroom environment.'

He lauded improvement in the performance of the state's English learners, who comprise 25 percent of all students in the education system.

In 2002, 11 percent of 850,000 English learners tested were at the proficient level or above. Last year, when the same students were tested, 32 percent were proficient or above, he said.

A recent state poll showed education as being the No. 1 concern of residents, with the state budget crisis coming in second, O'Connell said.

Bassett Unified Superintendent Robert Nero said he had met O'Connell at various education functions and asked him to give the back-to-school address.

After the program, Nero said he would like O'Connell to come back to the district to visit while school is in session.

"I'm indebted to his presence here today,' Nero said.

Monday's ceremony also included the induction of former students and community activists into Bassett Unified's Hall of Fame. The honorees were: Louie Lujan, Fred Lujan, Melinda Rivas, Randall Martinez, Adan Ortega, Jr., Dr. Olman Mata and Dr. Eddie Hernandez.

Also recognized was Teacher of the Year Jaime Tambara and Classified Employee of the Year Mary Sanchez.