RE: Question 1: Who's in charge?

Thank you for all the thoughtfulness that went into this section of the plan.  I do have some concerns and suggestions.

	When I vote for governor, many other issues along with education are considered.  With each new governor, we have a shift in education policy played out in the education appointments and the budget (note all the budget cuts in mathematics professional development, elimination of the K-12 university partnerships, but full funding proposed for teachers learning how to use a math or reading textbook). If you are aiming for actual accountability in education to the public, would it not make more sense to have an elected official whose ONLY responsibility was education.  Now the public can approve or disapprove the policies of that office clearly and precisely. And, these policies would continue (stability was a concern in the plan) in spite of the change of governor for all the other issues involved in a vote.

	The State Board of Education would better serve the children of the state if each person represented a geographical area.  We would then have a more knowledgeable advocate for the specific needs of each region.  We would have a better informed board if there was a member from each of the professional organizations for the content areas that are being tested:  California Mathematics Council, California Reading Association, California Association of Bilingual Educators (to help with the issues of second language lerners), and with testing of Science to begin next year-California Science Teachers Association.  Now you would have expertise around the table for every discussion along with members of the community and business representatives.  I was astonished at a State Board of Education member stated that every child in the state should be receiving exactly the same education, and someone should go into every classroom to be sure they are all on the same page.  The most shocking part for me was that no member of the board disagreed!  We need people around that table that understand education and the diversity of needs in our children. Only one example is the needs of a second language learner with content knowledge compared to a second language learner who is entering our schools in 5th grade with no formal education at all.

	In your planning, please aim for more ways for the public to have input, rather than concentrating the education in the office of the governor who has so many other issues to attend to, sometimes at the expense of education.