Davis and Education

A detailed Summary of Davis and Education

In this paper I will discuss the involvement of Governor Grey Davis in education reform for the state of California. The governor has done four progressive years for California's education as well as gaining respect from faculties. "Governor (Grey Davis) - following the gains of his Republican predecessor, Pete Wilson- probably is the most significant California school reformer in decades (Los Angeles Times, September 28, 2000)."

For example the first order of the Davis Administration was school reform. Under his leadership, California has invested more in its schools and its students and at the same time demanded more in return. In his first three years, funding for grades K-12 have increased by over 8 billion, or 29 percent, which is the largest three year increase ever. Also per-pupil spending has grown form $5,756 to $6,922 an increase of $1,166. At the same time schools were held accountable for improvement. His efforts during term of office were such that it was called the Era of Higher Expectations. This year, 54.4 percent of all schools and 51.7 percent of all lower performing schools met growth targets of five percent or higher.

One of the big things he did was a historic session on school reform. T

* $1.3 billion or $237 per pupil- for new textbooks and classroom materials.

At the heart of Governor Davis' Higher Expectations approach is a qualified teacher in every classroom. In his 2000 State of State Address, Governor Davis issued a call to arms on teaching. By the end of the year, that call had been answered. With the largest and most aggressive package of teacher incentives offered anywhere in America, the Governor made 2000 the Year of the Teacher. The package was no joke and promised the following:

Just as Governor understands that investment without accountability is a waste of money, he also recognizes that accountability without investment is doomed to failure. So during the first three years he made investments including:

* 19 million in new books for school libraries and another three million for K-4 classroom libraries.

* Up to 19,000 in college loan assumption payments through the APLE Program for those who agree to teach in lower performing schools.

* $ 20,000 teaching fellowships to attract 1,000 of our brightest college students.

These investments turned out to be good ones, in 2001; Governor Davis chaired the successful "Yes on 39" ballot initiative campaign, which makes it easier for local communities to pass school bonds by lowering the vote requirement to 55 percent. It passed 53 to 47 percent. He has signed legislation that places 30 billion dollars in state school construction and modernization bonds o

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Approximate Word count = 984
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics