Secretary of Education Seeks Input Regarding the Governor’s “Year of Education”
For some time now, the buzz in the education community has centered on the specific contents of what will be included as part of the Governor’s “Year of Education.” Specifically, what will the Year of Education/Education Reform bring? What will it change? How will it be implemented? In an interesting turn of events, Secretary of Education Dr. David Long is putting that question to educators in the field and, according to his website, he would like you to send in your ideas on what education reform should look like.
In an open letter to the field, Secretary Long sketched out some of the basic challenges that face education in California, including high dropout rates. Estimates point to the fact that one fourth of students entering 9th grade do not graduate. In addition to the dropout rate, low achievement scores, low college-going rates, low job placement, and unsafe school environments topped the Secretary’s list of challenges facing California.
All of these challenges—and many others—are why the Governor, according to Secretary Long, declared 2008 the Year of Education in California. Speaking from his point of view as Secretary Dr. Long explained, “The next year and the months leading up to it [the Year of Education] will be an unprecedented opportunity to focus on our current challenges and place our efforts in some well-reasoned solutions.”
In his letter, Secretary Long made a direct pitch for input from the field: “I am asking for your help. I want to hear from you regarding the challenges facing education today and ways we can work to ensure that every California child has access to a quality education.” As the principle advisor to the Governor on education issues, Secretary Long reports that he is “gathering input from students, teachers, parents, community and business leaders, administrators, and others through a series of Community Leader Meetings to help identify these challenges of these troubling results as well as solutions that can lead to improvement.”
If you or your school district would like to submit your thoughts and/or recommendations for the Governor’s Year of Education/Education Reform, Secretary Long has asked that you e-mail your comments to: edpolicy@ose.ca.gov.
[Posted to the Internet 8/29/07] —Angelo A. Williams