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Alameda County, CA June 6, 2006 Election
Smart Voter

A First-Rate Education for Every Californian

By Ronnie Gail Caplane

Candidate for Member of the State Assembly; District 16; Democratic Party

This information is provided by the candidate
Education is the key to our future and California has ignored its public schools too long. California needs to allocate resources to support a quality education for every student.
I will fight to achieve meaningful change in our education system. In order to do that, we must close the achievement gap between low-income/minority students and those from other backgrounds. We must provide a school system with high academic standards; a safe and nurturing environment where the needs of individual students are addressed; and a teaching force that is highly competent, well-trained and well-paid. I am committed to rebuilding our schools so that once again we will be the gold standard of public education. Oakland Schools can and will become a model urban school district. We must:

  • Recruit and retain the best and brightest teachers, especially for low-performing urban schools, through salary increases, tax breaks, housing assistance, and college loan forgiveness

  • Improve teacher training programs in areas including child and adolescent development, classroom management, and teaching in the most challenging schools

  • Strengthen mentoring and support programs for new classroom teachers to help them develop their skills and encourage them to make public school teaching a lifetime career

  • Provide high-quality professional development for veteran teachers, with special focus at the middle- and high school levels which have been neglected

  • Expand California's Class Size Reduction Program to grades beyond K-3, permitting teachers to give students one-on-one attention; and promote development of small schools, fostering caring relationships between teachers and students

  • Revise California's achievement test so that it does not rely exclusively on multiple choice questions, but also requires students to solve problems and analyze information

  • Increase school funding to support the above programs, including making it easier to pass local parcel taxes, making sure all taxes and user fees are collected, and closing tax loopholes

  • Provide adequate and stable funding for California's universities and community colleges, and reduce recent tuition increases

  • Increase the capacity of state universities, colleges, and community colleges to admit all students who want to attend

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