Why I'm Running For CA Superintendent Of Instruction And My Platform-Leonard J. Martin

Why I'm Running For CA Superintendent Of Instruction And My Platform-Leonard J. Martin

http://leonardmartin.us/wordpress/

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December 29th, 2009
Vote for Leonard J. Martin

Superintendent of Public Instruction

It isn’t enough to want change if you do nothing to contribute to it. I am Leonard Martin and I am running for the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of California.

I have been a resident of California for over forty years and I am a taxpayer but above all I am a parent. I went through the education system in California and my daughter has attended public schools in California all of her life. It has caused me great pain throughout the last forty years to see the California education system lose its credibility and quality. I’ve seen funding for the public education system falter and I’ve seen public schools lose their standards when it comes to the upkeep of the schools. I’ve seen the educational bureaucracy grow unchecked while the quality of the facilities and the quality of education stumble. Districts have lost sight of the value of education and the importance of a clean and healthy environment for our children. The funding for our public schools has been grossly mismanaged. The results are that schools are now housing students in an unhealthy, often hazardous environment and offering a less structured and well-rounded curriculum. Once a leader in the country, California has become a poorly viewed system that isn’t properly preparing students for the real world, OR the financial, global, environmental, and social responsibilities that are facing us now and will continue to arise in the future.

I am running for this position because I believe Californians deserve a much stronger and responsible public education system. I believe that as a businessman and a father I can guide our education system down a more responsible and responsive path.

http://leonardmartin.us/wordpress/platform

Why I am Running for “Superintendent of Public Instruction” 2010

My mission is to support all Public Schools, Teachers, Students and Staff.

California public education is facing its destruction. The state’s fiscal crisis has resulted in many district’s financial ruin. Budgets are being slashed, education workers are being cut and schools, primarily in poor minority and working class districts, are being shut down. Education conditions are under attack. I support the March 4th Day of Action and Strike in Defense of Public Education. The Oakland Education Association, the United Teachers of Los Angeles, the California Faculty Association CFA, and the California Federation of Teachers CFT have endorsed this action. This day of massive strikes, rallies, and walkouts will bring this crisis into the forefront of public perception and will be an historic turning point in our struggle against budget cuts, layoffs, and the continued decimation of the public school system.

I believe that we need a basic restructuring of education in the State of California to protect public education for the future of our young people and the state of California and to that end I propose the following:

1. School Financing:

We need equality of financing. I will work to end the primary financing of education through property taxes. Under this system the schools in the wealthier districts do quite well while schools in California’s poor and mostly urban working class communities face bankruptcy.

I support the elimination of the commercial exemption under Proposition 13, the elimination of the 2/3’s vote in the legislature to pass a budget, and a capital tax on the 2% of Californians who own and control most of the wealth in California.

I will work for a statewide education tax on the corporations and wealthy to fund education

A clear example of the need for these measures is the crisis in Richmond, California where the teachers face cutback in dependent healthcare and increase class sizes while the Chevron Corporation, which has a major refinery in that city, refuses to pay more taxes to the City of Richmond for the schools. As the State of California, Superintendent of Public Instruction, I will personally join with students and education workers to demand that these companies pay for education.

I will oppose the continued funding of more prisons and support for the prison industry in California. These funds should be going to rebuild our school system and for our children. As the State of California, Superintendent of Public Instruction, I will oppose the twisted priorities of California with more and more money going to prisons while our education system is being destroyed.

2. Privatization and Restructuring:

We need to end the privatization and “restructuring” of our schools. I oppose Obama’s Secretary of Education, Arnie Duncan, who is demanding that schools be turned over to private organizations to be run as charters. This is happening throughout California where private corporations financed by the Eli Broad Foundation, Green Dot Schools and the Gates Foundation are pouring funding into privately run schools. At the same time these billionaires refuse to pay more taxes to properly fund California schools. Why is it that the richest state in the country is 49th in funding for education? I will make sure that this issue is at the forefront of my campaign and efforts when I become, Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of California.

3. Health and Safety:

I will demand and work to make sure that all K-12 schools in the State of California are healthy and safe for the students and staff. In too many schools in California, there are problems with mold and other toxins on the school grounds. At the same time the cutback in maintenance staff has meant that students face dirty classrooms and filthy bathrooms. These physical conditions drive students out of the schools and onto the streets and it has to stop…and driving teachers into early retirement and disability.

4. Standardized Testing and Bilingual Education

I oppose the use of standardized testing. The “No Child Left Behind” program that makes testing the key component of education in the United States. The restructuring of the schools under this anti-education agenda is in fact weakening our education system and turning the schools into testing centers and not education and critical thinking centers that prepare young people for the future. We also need to have bilingual education in all schools to train and encourage our youth to learn the languages of people from throughout California and make them ready to participate and contribute to the economy of California and the world.

5. Politicians Taking Over Schools:

I oppose the continuing drive of local politicians to take over the schools and also the state take-over of schools supposedly to solve the financial and education crisis. This has taken place in Oakland and in Los Angeles it has led to a deterioration of education conditions for the students and teachers and the state take-over has resulted in further financial debt with highly paid outside consultants getting hundreds of millions of dollars that should be going into maintaining the facilities and educational programs.

6. Military Recruitment in Schools:

I oppose the recruiting students in our schools to meet the military needs in Iraq and Afghanistan. The hundreds of billions of dollars going to these wars are an insult and a threat to our educational needs here at home. Young students, mostly working class or poor Latino and Black, are targeted for recruitment and not for jobs and further education but for use as cannon fodder at these adventures abroad. I will oppose military recruitment and military training in the schools and support funding for technical and vocational training for all our youth so they can help rebuild California into a clean and environmentally advanced society.

7. Commercialization and Fundraising:

I oppose commercialization in the schools, from unhealthy fatty foods to commercial arrangements with companies who are pushing their products. I oppose the need to push students into selling products in order to fund the schools. California is the richest State in the nation and we have the resources and wealth to pay for a great education without forcing the students into becoming sales people to raise money for their schools.

8. Yearly Conference:

I support an annual yearly statewide conference of education workers, students, and parents to discuss the state of our schools and to develop agendas to protect our education. We need to bring all elements that are critical in our education system together to defend our education system and make it again the best in the world.

I want your feedback.