Editor’s Note: Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar) publicly called on the California Attorney General to take action against those individuals in the CA
Last November, Californians risked their money on state government. Despite five years of closed businesses, lost jobs, and replacement jobs that pay far less, Californians
In the past few weeks, Californians’ taxes have increased and take-home pay has fallen. Many of us are left wondering what Governor Jerry Brown will
While Democrats were given an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to creating jobs, controlling spending, and protecting our school children from predators, this session can
Education reform legislation I authored was voted down in the Senate Education Committee yesterday following an outburst of opposition from union interests that were bent on protecting the status quo. SB 355 would have allowed school districts in California to base layoffs on teacher performance rather than just teacher seniority. The measure is part of a broader, nationwide wave of school reform that will allow school districts to foster and retain quality teachers.
With our schools struggling to increase their education quality, I’m disappointed the Senate education committee chose the status quo related to which teachers we let go. Half of our state’s schools are experiencing declining enrollment. Regardless of this year’s difficult budget, layoffs are being made. The defeat of SB 355 means incompetent teachers are still given preference to better teachers because of the quality blind approach we currently use.
Union members with the California Teachers’ Association showed up in force during the committee hearing to oppose my reform efforts, and at the same time, defend the “Last in, First Out” (LIFO) hiring policy. This policy ensures that, no matter how proficient many teachers are, no matter how hard they work, no matter how well they teach, they will receive layoff notices solely based on the date they were hired.
I have introduced new
legislation that will allow government agencies to contract out for supplies
and services with private business. Senate Constitutional Amendment (SCA) 11
will make government operations more affordable and efficient by encouraging
competition among private market service and equipment providers.
If you can find a
product or service in the Yellow Pages, the State of California should be using
those services rather than creating new bureaucracies at taxpayer expense. It’s
no secret that the private sector can do anything government does and usually
more efficiently, and at less cost.
Working in a bi-partisan manner, Senate Republicans encourage the Democratic Leadership to join local teachers, parents, and students across the state to ensure that California qualifies for and embraces the $4.35 billion Educational Grants offered by the Obama Administration.
As stated in the Los Angeles Times article, “President Obama singled out California on Friday for failing to use education data to distinguish poor teachers from good ones, a situation that his administration said must change for the state to receive competitive, federal school dollars.”
Our state spends more than $40 billion on education. That investment buys us 25th place among the states. We have an opportunity to protect the jobs of our local teachers and end the status quo that says this is the best we can do and this is the best our children can achieve.