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
All of this took place in the four years Governor Davis was in office. So during the first three years he made investments including:* $1. 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. Each of the bills were passed with bipartisan support and signed into law by early April of 1999. By the end of the year, that call had been answered. Especially since he put so much into bonds and long-term educational programs. Those are just a few of the many incentives offered by Governor Davis. In his 2000 State of State Address, Governor Davis issued a call to arms on teaching. * $425 million in School Improvement and Pupil Achievement Block Grants * $576 million to wire every high school to provide at least one Internet- ready computer for every five high students and to decrease the Digital Divide at all schools. And the last part of the Higher Expectations approach is accountability. 5 million over three years to make schools cleaner, safer and more modern. These bills consisted of establishing the nation's first statewide peer-review program for teachers, another thing he created was new reading programs to ensure that every child in California can read with confidence by the age of 9 and has invested nearly 200 million dollars to implement these programs. * 19 million in new books for school libraries and another three million for K-4 classroom libraries. He has signed legislation that places 30 billion dollars in state school construction and modernization bonds on the ballot over three general elections (Los Angeles Times, www.
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Acceptance Essays
