Candidate for
Governing Board Member; Piner Olivet Union School District

HISTORY

I believe that the wealth and success of the USA has been the direct result of 200 years of free, comprehensive and universal public education. Public education is not a cost but rather an essential investment in our future.

California has a powerful and rapidly growing high-tech economy. It is ironic that our system of public education has failed to make the grade. Spending on education in California fell to 50th among the states due largely to Proposition 13. In recent years there has been an increase in state revenues for education. The Class Size Reduction program has greatly improved the quality of K-3 education. But more needs to be done.

CURRENT ISSUES

I would urge voters to support PROPOSITION 39 which will provide much needed funding for school capital improvements. Many of our California schools are in a deplorable state of repair, and many lack the vital capital resources they need to provide for quality instructional programs

I would urge voters to support PROPOSITION 35 which will lower the costs of school construction, as well as other public projects. Also, the passage of this proposition will speed construction times, and free the school districts from captivity to the state bureaucracy.

And finally, I would strongly urge voters to vote NO on PROPOSITION 38. Even those voters who philosophically support the notion of School Vouchers should vote AGAINST Proposition 38. This Proposition will cost the State of California over $3 billion for children already in private schools. Private Schools under Prop 38 will have no accountability, no regulation, no financial review, and no assurance of educational quality whatsoever. Under prop 38 it would be possible for a convicted felon with no teachers certificate, or even a college degree!, to open a "school" in his or her garage, and charge the State $4,000 per "student."

It is ironic in an age when the public schools are under increasing pressure to improve performance standards, the private schools under Prop 38 will have no standards whatsoever!