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- What is the significance for our community of ensuring adequate funding for our school district, its programs, early childhood education and after school programs? Please elaborate.
The primary significance of adequate funding for public schools is that this is the only way to ensure we can educate the children of our community – and research shows conclusively that education is the best investment we can make to create a strong economic base, to ensure a lower crime rate and to build the quality of life in our community we want for our future. We simply owe it to our children to provide that foundation. Failure to provide this support is not an option for our future, either morally or pragmatically.
- What priority would you attach to ensuring adequate funding for our schools, after-school programs and early childhood development in the city budget?
I have consistently advocated that we, as a community, give all we can -- both financially and in terms of program support -- to our schools for the reasons stated in my answer to Question 1. At the same time, we as a City must continue to meet our obligations to provide essential services such as police and fire, to retain the level of staff necessary to providing those services and to maintain commitments such as providing access to affordable health care to staff.
- Are you familiar with and do you fully support the agreement negotiated for the City to provide funding to the School District?
I am more than familiar with the agreement – I led the fight on the Council to force my fellow Members to give our schools the $6 million called for in the agreement. In my time on the Council, I have always been the leader in demanding – and winning – the maximum possible level of city funding for our schools. My answer is “absolutely.”
- Do you fully support providing the maximum level of funding for our schools under the City-School District agreement? Under what circumstances would you not be willing to do so?
I absolutely and completely favor the maximum level of funding for our schools under the agreement – as I have throughout my service on the Council. The only circumstances under which I would even consider a different course would be if the schools were to begin receiving the full level of necessary funding from the state. Given the current economic and budget conditions facing the State of California, I don’t anticipate those circumstances will arise in the foreseeable future.
- If the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District faced a budget crisis brought on by circumstances outside the District’s control, such as funding cuts from the State of California, would you be willing to support crisis funding to the District even beyond the City-School District funding agreement?
Yes.
- Please provide specific examples of how you have supported the district and the education of our youth. How have you shown leadership to ensure adequate city funding for our schools? As a council member, what kind of leadership will you show to address school funding?
In addition to the specific examples cited in answer to the previous questions, I have supported the District over the past thirty years as a parent and as an elected official, as has my family. My late wife was a long-time schools advocate and a member of the Unified and the College Board. We have been actively involved in support of special education programs for many years as parents of two blind children educated in Santa Monica’s public schools.
I’m a long-time public schools “music parent” and provide two scholarships for Santa Monica public school students, in the names of my children Glenn and Dana.
Throughout my service on the Council, with each annual budget, I have always led the fight for maximum City funding of schools.
With regard to CEPS, from Day One I led the effort on the Council in support of CEPS even though the City Manager opposed it and other Members of the Council wanted to impose unacceptable conditions.
I will continue to provide the leadership and serve as the “voice of reason” on the Council in support of Santa Monica’s public schools as long as I serve there.
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