| State of California (Butte, Lassen, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sierra, Yuba Counties) | November 2, 2004 Election |
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Top Legislative PrioritiesBy Robert "Bob" BurkCandidate for Member of the State Assembly; District 3 |
This information is provided by the candidate | |
What my two top legislative priorities will be and how will I fund them.My top legislative priority is to do all I can to improve the quality of education in California. The current system of revenue limits is outdated and is not working to deliver a consistent high-quality product. Parents do not have real choices and are forced in to accepting schools that are not meeting the needs of every student. Most teachers are doing the best they can, but their hands are tied because: A) funding is not getting to the classroom, B) state and federal regulations do not allow teachers to teach to the needs of their students, and C) the current system provides no real incentives to improve. During the next legislative session, my first priority would be to give parents real choices as to what educational program is best for their children. I am committed the children of California to make sure they get the best education possible. Funding for this is actually already in place, we just have to be better stewards of how these funds are applied and give individuals more choice as to how to use this money. My second priority is to make government more responsive to its "customers" by determining what services are better done in a competitive environment. And this is a change that will NOT require more funding, but ultimately will save millions of dollars every year AND will increase the quality of services we all receive. In his book The 21st Century City, Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith talks about how this approach to city government dramatically changed to face of government by encouraging competition and establishing clear and specific goals to measure the results. As Mayor Goldsmith writes, "the opportunities for improving service through competition are as boundless as the free market itself." Applying his belief that "smaller government is just plain better," I see many opportunities at the State level that can be done more efficiently and at a lower cost if we just apply free market principals. True, this may not apply to everything the State does today, but I will make sure we take a good hard look at changing the face of our government and get results. "Competition is like a fire. It is an energy source, driving innovation." |
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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 21, 2004 10:06
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