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San Diego County, CA November 4, 2008 Election
Smart Voter

Education...

By Ralph Ellsworth Denney

Candidate for Member of the State Assembly; District 76

This information is provided by the candidate
Education is the key to a healthy democracy and to our future. We must attack the waste and the bloat of the educational bureaucracy, and cap administrative costs to a reasonable level. We must empower our parents, students, and teachers to create a new and dynamic partnership for the future.
Education is the key to a healthy democracy and to our future. When I was a student in our great state, California Schools were the envy of the nation. Sadly, with more than half of all educational dollars being spent outside the classroom, when political correctness and social experimentation have become more important than learning, and teachers are encouraged to `teach to the test', our schools have become more of a warehouse and babysitter than a place of learning and critical thinking.

We can INCREASE the number of TEACHERS, make classes smaller, bring back the ARTS and SCIENCES to our schools, to energize our students, without raising taxes or increasing spending. We can actually put pencils and paper BACK into the classroom along with other supplies necessary for a modern education, such as computers... How? By attacking the waste and the bloat of the educational bureaucracy, and capping administrative costs to a reasonable level. Simply put, if the expense doesn't directly teach our students... it needs to be cut.

By creating smaller school districts, we will not only save in wasted administrative expenses and bloated executive salaries, but would also make the districts more responsive to the needs of its students and communities. We could then significantly reduce the abhorrent drop out rate (41% in San Diego City Schools), by empowering our parents, students, and teachers... creating a new and dynamic partnership for the future.

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