State of California Education budget... $65 Billion
Department of Education Budget... $56 billion
Local District budgets... Hundreds of millions
Bonds issues for construction of schools and repairs in the last 10 years in California... $100 billion + and "13 % inflation on costs"
Silence from school board candidates 30 days prior to an election.... priceless.
Hi my name is Tim Camarillo and I am running for the Simi Valley School Board.
I'm afraid there will not be as much coverage for the Simi Valley School Board Race. The Simi Valley Acorn had a small snippet and the Daily News will also have a small snippet for Sunday's paper I think.
Also with the ordinance of posting no political signs in public areas in Simi Valley. It is hard to tell who is running in this race and if there is an actual race coming up in November.
For a refresher here is how I answered Tim Keany’s Questions from an earlier blog.
What would be your first order of business if elected to the school board?
I would like to explore options in making more early childhood education programs a reality in the Simi Valley School District.
Why are you running for school board?
With the two incumbents not running there was an opportunity to advocate for early childhood education. I think that this is a great opportunity to make a difference and to explore new directions in the education field.
What endorsements do you have?
No endorsements at this time. I applied for Simi Educators Association/California School Employees Association Teacher and Classified Union Endorsements, but was not recommended for the final two endorsements. I also applied for a Ventura County Democratic Endorsement but was informed since there are three Democrats running for the Simi Valley School Board there will be a "no position or endorsement" in that race.
I am also working on some possible endorsements at this time.
Do you support an increase in the school impact fee on developers?
No the burden should not be placed on developers, the higher cost of housing would just passed on to the consumer in already high housing costs.
What would you do differently to create policies to reduce the racial tension on campus?
One of the things we can do is to train teachers and administrative personnel to facilitate an elective course of study in which about 30 students can discuss racial and ethnic conflict and learn ways to solve problems peacefully. We can discuss differences and open up a dialogue.
We can also set up peer mediation programs.
I am also a Graduate of the LDIR-Leadership Development in Interethnic Relations Program in Los Angeles. Where I learned programs should be based on community needs. The program I was in explored in the classroom setting we learned cultural awareness, racism and prejudice, ethnic histories, community organizing, public policy, conflict resolution and media relations.
In the experiential segment of the program we helped explore the possibility of setting up a credit union in a low income neighborhood in Pasadena.
When it comes down to things everything is based on economics or the lack of.
Do you support a school uniform policy?
No, I think long as what a student is wearing is not offensive to race, religion or creed, then it would be OK to wear.
Do you believe that students should have access to condoms from the school nurse?
While I do encourage abstinence in youth, I do recognize that there are those who will do otherwise. Recognizing that condoms help prevent AIDS and pregnancy, I can support having condoms available in schools only to be distributed by school nurses.
What is your opinion of school vouchers?
I think school vouchers are a solution for some communities for a quality education, in Simi Valley you do have quality schools. A child’s education should be a decision made by the parents for a quality education.
Bonus Question for Simi Valley Candidates - The C4 Bond lost $29 million last year, and officials say that the inflation rate for bond projects is at 14%.
What would you do to stop the bleeding and live up to the promises of the bond? Would you support a second bond offering?
I think we should finish what we have started with the C4 Bond and I would support a second bond, if we could not get any additional monies from the possible passing of state bonds.
We should try and not make the same decisions and be proactive in making sure that we complete the task.
I don't think a second bond would fly because the first one didn't fulfill all it's promise.
Tim Keaney, did you get a chance to see the Governor's debate. Angelides kept focusing on the 3 billion that the Governor shorted schools. However, spending on schools has never been higher in the state of california.
It seems we have a moving the goal post mentality in school funding. If the Governor were to give a 10 billion dollar increase, he'd be called anti-kid because it's not 12 billion.
Oh, and on NCLB. When people say Bush hasn't fully funded NCLB, it's important to point out that the previous law, the Secondary Education Act was never fully funded by Clinton or any president before Bush for that matter either.
NCLB has given more to public schools from the federal government than any law in history. The real anger is at accountability and testing.
The concept of continuous improvement scares people.
Hi my name is Tim Camarillo and I am running for the Simi Valley School Board.
I'm afraid there will not be as much coverage for the Simi Valley School Board Race. The Simi Valley Acorn had a small snippet and the Daily News will also have a small snippet for Sunday's paper I think.
Also with the ordinance of posting no political signs in public areas in Simi Valley. It is hard to tell who is running in this race and if there is an actual race coming up in November.
For a refresher here is how I answered Tim Keany’s Questions from an earlier blog.
What would be your first order of business if elected to the school board?
I would like to explore options in making more early childhood education programs a reality in the Simi Valley School District.
Why are you running for school board?
With the two incumbents not running there was an opportunity to advocate for early childhood education. I think that this is a great opportunity to make a difference and to explore new directions in the education field.
What endorsements do you have?
No endorsements at this time. I applied for Simi Educators Association/California School Employees Association Teacher and Classified Union Endorsements, but was not recommended for the final two endorsements. I also applied for a Ventura County Democratic Endorsement but was informed since there are three Democrats running for the Simi Valley School Board there will be a "no position or endorsement" in that race.
I am also working on some possible endorsements at this time.
Do you support an increase in the school impact fee on developers?
No the burden should not be placed on developers, the higher cost of housing would just passed on to the consumer in already high housing costs.
What would you do differently to create policies to reduce the racial tension on campus?
One of the things we can do is to train teachers and administrative personnel to facilitate an elective course of study in which about 30 students can discuss racial and ethnic conflict and learn ways to solve problems peacefully. We can discuss differences and open up a dialogue.
We can also set up peer mediation programs.
I am also a Graduate of the LDIR-Leadership Development in Interethnic Relations Program in Los Angeles. Where I learned programs should be based on community needs. The program I was in explored in the classroom setting we learned cultural awareness, racism and prejudice, ethnic histories, community organizing, public policy, conflict resolution and media relations.
In the experiential segment of the program we helped explore the possibility of setting up a credit union in a low income neighborhood in Pasadena.
When it comes down to things everything is based on economics or the lack of.
Do you support a school uniform policy?
No, I think long as what a student is wearing is not offensive to race, religion or creed, then it would be OK to wear.
Do you believe that students should have access to condoms from the school nurse?
While I do encourage abstinence in youth, I do recognize that there are those who will do otherwise. Recognizing that condoms help prevent AIDS and pregnancy, I can support having condoms available in schools only to be distributed by school nurses.
What is your opinion of school vouchers?
I think school vouchers are a solution for some communities for a quality education, in Simi Valley you do have quality schools. A child’s education should be a decision made by the parents for a quality education.
Bonus Question for Simi Valley Candidates - The C4 Bond lost $29 million last year, and officials say that the inflation rate for bond projects is at 14%.
What would you do to stop the bleeding and live up to the promises of the bond? Would you support a second bond offering?
I think we should finish what we have started with the C4 Bond and I would support a second bond, if we could not get any additional monies from the possible passing of state bonds.
We should try and not make the same decisions and be proactive in making sure that we complete the task.
Posted by: Tim Camarillo at October 5, 2006 11:40 PM