ISSUES

Ten Common Sense Solutions for Improving Our Schools

1. The Three R’s

We’ve been taught from our school days that the three R’s are writing, reading, and arithmetic. But I believe we must go beyond that by creating a new set of fundamentals for the 21st Century. In addition to the 3 R’s we must prepare students for college or careers by offering more computer technology classes and vocational training programs. We need more job training in local schools and community colleges, so our students have multiple pathways to success. Students need to be able to choose the path that is right for them and our schools need to provide the tools that will help them along the way.

2. Safety in Schools

Our kids cannot learn if they do not feel safe in school. We need to increase the number of antigang programs in all of our local public schools. Studies show that kids are most vulnerable between 3 and 6 pm when they are without supervision after school and before their parents get home from work. I propose an increase in after-school programs to provide children with structured activities in a safe place while parents are at work.

Further, we must protect kids on their way to and from school by establishing safety zones, protected by police, for the areas immediately surrounding all neighborhood schools. Students should not have to fear for their life on the way to school and it is our job to ensure their safety. We must make our schools safe havens for learning by establishing gang-free zones around campuses, and by expanding after-school programs at every school to keep our kids away from gangs and drugs.

3. Set High Expectations – The Fourth R

Setting high expectations for student behavior is just as important as high expectations for student performance. Of course, we must insist that all of our children have a high expectation for success, but it doesn’t end there. Students should also be expected to maintain discipline. Schools must enforce the fourth R – RESPECT. Kids cannot learn and teachers cannot teach unless there is an atmosphere of respect, responsibility, and decorum. Parental responsibility is key, but we must supplement and reinforce parental efforts by making character and responsibility training a basic element of our school curriculum. We must:

• Expand school curriculum to include character and responsibility training

• Set high expectations for student behavior and achievement

• Establish a consistent discipline policy to support teachers when they remove students for disruptive behavior

4. Invest in More “Green” Schools

I support more state investment in “Green” schools. All of our schools should be updated so the buildings reach the highest standards, in accordance with The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™. Schools should be updated with energy-efficient lighting and low-irrigation landscaping. They should reduce their carbon footprint with efficient heating and air-conditioning, use of solar panels, and low-emission paints, glues and carpets. I believe strongly that green schools mean healthier kids, and that teaching our kids at a young age that our earth’s resources are precious and not to be wasted is paramount to instilling them with a green consciousness. I also propose creating more environmentally-friendly magnet schools, where students can learn first hand how to reduce their carbon footprints. Not only would the magnet schools be up-to-date with the highest environmental standards, but teachers, administrators, parents, and students would all be committed to creating sustainable, “green” education communities.

5. Affordable Tuition for Community Colleges

College tuition has skyrocketed and, frankly, become unaffordable for many families. I will fight to keep tuition at local 2 and 4 year colleges affordable. Further, I will fight for increased funding for our community college system. Serving more than 2.5 million students each year, the California Community College system is the largest higher education system in the world and is the largest workforce provider in California. It is our duty to protect its funding and ensure it continues to provide job training skills and vocational training for millions of students. We must also do a better job of connecting our community colleges with the business community, to ensure that our investments in education are satisfying the needs of business. There is no excuse for failing to provide our community colleges with the resources necessary to provide a quality, affordable education to the future workers of California. The investments we make in our community colleges today are an essential part of ensuring that California has the skilled workforce that is needed to attract business and commerce and to reduce expenditures in public assistance.

6. Recruit and Train More Teachers

We must ensure that teachers have the necessary training and resources to educate our children. I propose implementing an emergency plan to recruit and train more qualified teachers, especially in the schools that need it the most. Teachers want to help children learn, but they cannot succeed without professional development and support. I want to implement a program that encourages experienced teachers to mentor new or struggling teachers and give them the confidence and training they need to succeed. I also propose increasing teacher salaries to attract the best and brightest teachers in our state. Our teachers are professionals that deserve professional pay. Next to parents, teachers are the most important guidance figures in our children’s lives. They deserve higher salaries for the work they do.

7. Increase the Role of the Community and Parents

Studies show that the more involved a parent is in a child’s education, the more successful that child will be. Parents should be invited to participate in school activities and given the means to do so. We must empower parents to make informed choices about their children’s education. Businesses should be encouraged to support their local schools and our schools must become community centers where people come together. After-school programs should be expanded to offer physical education, arts, and other activities that have been cut so severely over the years. School facilities should be kept open later to accommodate the schedules of working families. We must do a better job of connecting community resources to our schools.

8. Cut Wasteful Spending

More money needs to go directly into the classroom. We must cut wasteful spending by identifying waste, fraud, and abuse through regularly scheduled school audits. We must keep the school districts accountable to taxpayers. More of our taxpayer dollars should go directly into the classroom to help teachers with books, supplies, art classes, music classes and physical education – not wasted on bureaucrats that have nothing to do with our students.

9. Support Early Education and Universal Pre-School

We must start at the beginning by providing high quality, affordable preschool for all of California’s children. Children who attend preschool are less likely to be placed in special education or held back a grade, perform better on standardized math and reading tests, are more likely to graduate high school and attend college, are less likely to be arrested or incarcerated, and are less likely to need public assistance as adults. Giving children a head start in life is the right thing to do, and it benefits our state by saving costs to society in the long run.

10. Increase Local Control

Curriculum and education policy decisions are best made by principals, teachers, and parents at the community level, rather than politicians and bureaucrats in Sacramento. Our school district cannot properly serve our kids or teachers with such a bloated bureaucracy--a bureaucracy that is sucking money away from our kids and classrooms. I believe small learning communities give teachers, students and parents the best chance to succeed by creating a more personalized learning environment that better meets each student’s needs.

Teachers and principals should have increased input into key policy decisions such as curriculum selection, standards for student performance, teacher training and career development, teacher job responsibilities and peer assistance and review programs. We must empower schools that show improvement in student achievement to spend discretionary funds as they see fit. If elected, I will enlist teachers and their unions as leaders in these educational improvements and reforms. I know that schools that actively engage teachers in the design and implementation of reforms have a much more successful track record at reform.

Alternative Energy

As our new Assemblymember, Stuart Waldman will sponsor landmark legislation to:

• Invest in Fuel Efficient Vehicles and Alternative Technologies like Solar and Wind.

• Provide Tax Breaks for local businesses and homeowners who “go green.”

• Make the San Fernando Valley the Silicon Valley of the new Environmental Economy by providing tax incentives to Green Industries who locate in the Valley.

• Increase Fuel Efficiency Standards for automobiles, and fight the do-nothing Republicans who block them.

• Provide More Funding for Green Magnet schools like Canoga Park High who prepare students for the “Green Collar” jobs of the future.

Traffic

When it comes to transportation and traffic, I believe we need to get creative and we need to get real:

• I will fight for fully funding the extension of the Orange Line.  A full extension would run down Canoga Boulevard, connecting the Orange Line to the Canoga Park Amtrak station, allowing local residents easy access to Amtrak which runs directly to Union Station.  This extension would allow West Valley residents an opportunity to connect to Downtown and the Metro.  We also need to reduce the run time for the Orange Line by improving light synchronization
• Unlike some of my opponents, I support any and all extensions of the Metro system to the Valley and around the city, but I will never support the Valley getting anything less that its fair share when it comes to transportation dollars.  I often take Metro regularly and want to make sure it succeeds. 
• I support a major investment in replacing carpool lanes with light rail lines that would span the city.  Imagine the number of car trips that would be saved if we had a light rail line on the freeway running from Agoura to Glendale and Valencia to Long Beach!
• I will fight to install an alternative fuel trolley system in the Valley running North/South.
• I'm also proud of the $19 million we secured, when I worked for Speaker Hertzberg, to build needed soundwalls throughout the San Fernando Valley. Before I started working for the legislature, there were no soundwalls south of Roscoe Boulevard; now, they are all over the Valley, with more on the way.

War in Iraq

I am vehemently opposed to the war in Iraq and am an active member of Veterans for Peace.  I have never worked to support the war or defended any Congressman who supported the war.  Several states have taken an active role in opposing the war and California should be a leader in this effort.  I will support all state actions to oppose the war and, at a minimum, work to bring our National Guard troops home immediately.