Education

By Josh Becker

Unfortunately, California remains at or near the bottom of nearly every national measurement of education success, including graduation rates, college preparedness, class size, school violence, and real resources.

Today, virtually every act of consequence for education can be blocked by a 1/3 vote, whether at the local level or at the state level. As an Assemblymember Josh will fight to re-empower California's local communities and provide adequate funds for each student's education, support each teacher's professional accomplishment and development, and cut through the red tape to let teachers teach, leaders lead, and students learn.

Josh believes our principal priority as a State should be providing a world-class education for our children. To be competitive in the global economy we must fully fund K-12 at or above proposition 98 levels, provide a higher education system which is accessible to all Californians, and ensure job training is available for workers interested in learning new skills.

As Treasurer and incoming Chair of the Board of Trustees at the University of California at Merced, Josh has worked to combat the lack of adequate funding for education by helping to increase scholarships at the University despite budget cuts from the State.

As a father of two children in the public school system Josh understands that, for California to continue to lead in science, technology and innovation, our kids must excel in math and science, which is why he co-founded National Lab Day + a nationwide initiative endorsed by President Obama that pairs scientists with teachers to foster hands-on science, math and technology learning for students without costing a penny of taxpayer or school money.

As an Assemblymember, Josh will use the experience he gained from building National Lab Day to assist the California Department of Education to implement recent mandates to explore ways to improve student performance in the areas of science and mathematics.

Josh is uniquely qualified to head this implementation, having worked on Capitol Hill implementing federal +level legislation with a focus on operationalizing local involvement of large scale reforms.