California Governor Gray Davis Outlines State Education Plan At AJC Session

American Jewish Committee
Thursday, 6 May 1999

Texas Congressman Chet Edwards And Oregon Senator Gordon Smith Receive Ajc Congressional Leadership Awards

California Governor Gray Davis, calling his state "one of the biggest with one of the worst public education systems," outlined before the American Jewish Committee his multifaceted plan for improved teacher and principal training, higher standards and helping students "feel good about themselves and their potential." One goal of this effort is to help youngsters learn to live and work cooperatively in a diverse society.

Gov. Davis made his remarks today at AJC's 93rd Annual Meeting. Also at the session, AJC presented its annual Congressional Leadership Awards to Congressman Chet Edwards (D-TX) and Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR).

Gov. Davis commended AJC for its work to promote positive intergroup relations. "Kids are screaming at us for attention, to reach out to them and engage them in the process. We need to connect the Jewish community with the Black community, the Asian community and the Hispanic community on an individual basis in schools. This is exactly what AJC does on an institutional group level."

Discussing his education initiatives, Gov. Davis recalled that as a youth he had no desire to excel. "I just wanted to get along. But I had the benefit of teachers who had bigger dreams for me than I had for myself. In 1999, there are good kids who want to be challenged and are discouraged. In essence, they are having a ceiling put on their futures and all of us will ultimately be diminished because they may never reach their full potential."

Gov. Davis went on to outline the legislative initiatives he has implemented in California to help "change the culture of education" in an effort to "change excuses into higher expectations and higher student performance."

Among these, he cited an accountability bill which ranks each school and then offers monetary incentives to schools that improve by five percent over the previous year. "We have to do something so that schools don't remain stagnant, so that all schools - the best and the worst -- strive for improvement."

He noted that California is the first state to implement a peer review program for teachers to make sure that their performance is rated, and improved if necessary. He also spoke of a phonics-based reading bill, which would help improve reading skills by offering a summer school academy each year to more than 250,000 students and phonics training for more than 6,000 teachers. In addition, special schools are being created specifically to train principals in the many skills they need to run an effective and successful school.

"All these programs will pay enormous dividends. And we're willing to foot the bill for them all. But what we ask in return is the school professionals we train serve for four years in underserved schools."

The California governor added that he supports the use of school uniforms, saying that it would be a visual indication that "everyone is on the same team, not a gang or a group but one team. Yes, you give up some individual freedom of choice but you do so, as you do in so many other spheres of life, to produce a greater good."

Moving on to the related topic of tolerance and pluralism, Gov. Davis noted that "there is no ethnic majority in California. We speak more than 82 languages in our schools. There have been enormous demographic, cultural and educational challenges in the last 30 years and more to come. The challenge this poses is not easy. But let's reward schools that help kids and held them feel better about themselves and everyone else. We all share the same space. Promoting pluralism and tolerance is the right thing and the best thing to do."

Following Gov. Davis' presentation, AJC presented its Congressional Leadership Award to Congressman Chet Edwards of Texas and Senator Gordon Smith of Oregon. Cong. Edwards was praised for his "passionate defense of religious liberty," most specifically his leading role in helping to defeat the Istook Amendment in the 105th Congress. The Istook Amendment would have severely weakened church/state separation by permitting religious symbols on government property, sanctioning school prayer, and using federal tax money for sectarian purposes.

Senator Smith was honored for his "emergence as a strong leader in foreign affairs." The AJC cited his vigorous advocacy to monitor and help eradicate the upsurge of anti-Semitism in Russia and religious persecution around the world, to promote equity for Israel in the United Nations, and to respond to the tragedy in Kosovo.

For more information, or to contact American Jewish Committee, see their website at: www.ajc.org