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Education"The future of our state and our nation depends on educating our youth on issues such as the environment, drug addiction and morality so that we make America a better place and have its role in the world be one of respect."--Peter Camejo
Guarantee a quality education to everyone, including equal access to resources such as books, school facilities that work, and great teachers who are paid enough to stay in the profession. California now ranks near the bottom in the USA in our support for education, Camejo will work to raise our commitment to at least the national average. Camejo will work to protect and enhance public education, and opposes the privatization of our schools. This is one of the most vexing and important issues facing our state today. We cannot continue to let our children's education slide. We need to support our teachers. They are the foot-soldiers in the fight to have quality education for California's children. We need more teachers and fewer administrators. We need to think small in education: smaller classes, smaller schools, smaller districts. We need to make the schools places of education, and free them up from the many administrative burdens which take away from classroom time. We need to support our community colleges. These are the people's colleges, and they are being shamefully neglected. Bloated pay and severance packages for politically-connected board members should not take precedence over money for basic classroom education. We need universal availability of pre-school and affordable day care. Why does our current state government prefer to spend money on prisons than on schools and pre-schools? Could it be the fat donations from the developers who build prisons, the contractors who supply them, and the prison guard unions? Why are prison guards paid more than teachers? What does that say about our priorities? Which would you rather have in your neighborhood, a great prison or a great school? Top Priority: Helping schools that are being allowed to deteriorate and bringing equality back to education. Getting rid of the testing mania. Tuition Vouchers: Camejo is opposed to vouchers. "I am hard-core, fanatically for free public education. It's a critical part of our freedom and our culture." he says. School Prayer: "I agree with the founders. Any move in that direction will be discriminatory against people who are not Christians." Camejo says. Teacher Shortage: Camejo recommends "Increase pay. It should be more than what prison guards get. I would try to shift the money out of the education bureaucracy and to the front lines." Rewards for Higher Test Scores: "I don't like awards based on student performance. This is not a factory. (But) I'm not saying I'm against it. I'd need to be convinced." Camejo recommends smaller class sizes in upper grades, with 20 people per class. Camejo's Debate Response: How would you address education performance disparities between white students and those of color?"We really have to be sensitive to cultural differences and language differences, and, very often, tests don�t reflect that. There is a mania right now around tests. I would listen carefully to the CTA�s [California Teachers Association] position on this, which is to question the whole testing mania. I don�t have perfect answers for every question, and we have a terrible difficulty here, but we need to get parents and teachers and listen to them carefully. We need to make a real effort, and I agree very much with Davis saying we want to defend public education and not go toward privatization. On that, I agree with Davis, not Bill Simon."
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