Scott pushes for schools reform
By Liz Hedrick 08/20/2008
When Pasadena Democratic state Sen. Jack Scott’s 12-year run in state office comes to an end on Nov. 30, he hopes to have left a legacy of education reform.
Although the former Pasadena City College president is best known for leading state gun control efforts, he now describes education as his “main thrust” and chairs both the Senate Committee on Education and the Senate Budget Committee on Education.
Last week, Scott saw a number of his bills approved by the Legislature, including laws aimed at protecting students from sexual predators, changing standardized testing procedures and creating a new program to connect more kids with colleges.
“We’re waiting to send the bills to the governor’s office until the budget has passed,” explained Scott, who will become chancellor of the state community college system when he leaves office. “I have had a good record with the governor, so I’m confident that they’ll go through.”
Scott’s Senate Bill 1110 aims to protect students from sex offenders by requiring immediate suspension of any teacher whose credentials have been revoked in another state due to sexual misconduct. “These teachers will have the right to an appeal,” he said, “but it is my conviction that anyone who has been barred from teaching in another state because of sexual misconduct should not be able to teach in California.”
Other Scott legislation, SB 1111, would eliminate redundancies in the content of state and federal standardized tests, a move he says would allow students to spend more time practicing skills instead of getting tested twice on them.
The bill perhaps most likely to leave a lasting impression is SB 890, which would provide all California seventh-graders and their parents with comprehensive information about higher education and opportunities for making college an affordable option. As an effort to keep kids from dropping out, students would be asked to sign a goal-setting pledge to go to college.
Also in the realm of higher education, Scott’s SB 413 would allow community college professors to teach vocational courses in state prisons. “The California prison system has an incredibly high recidivism rate, which is caused in part by the prisoners’ lack of skills upon release,” he said. “We spend huge amounts of money on incarcerated persons —money that would be saved if they didn’t end up back in jail.”
The way Scott sees it, the state’s budget woes holding up these bills connect to education in more ways than one.
“My belief is that the economy of the state of California is dependent on an educated workforce,” he said. “If we have any chance for a prosperous future, we need to supply funds for public education now.”
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Thank you for the article. We should all be grateful for Mr. Scott’s efforts toward allowing community college professors to teach vocational courses in state prisons. It could save us millions of dollars and make us safer.
Unreasonably long sentences are ruining salvageable lives and families while doing nothing to make us safer, and they are costing us lots and lots of money.
If inmates were able to use their time productively, they would have a much better chance of becoming good citizens once they are released (as most will be).
Prejudice again ex-felons is very prevalant among landlords, employers, and the general public. They also have to face very tough parole rules where a small, victimless rule infraction can send them back to prison for years at a cost of almost $50,000 per year to tax payers.
Tough on crime became dumb on crime. It is not making us safer, but it is bankrupting our State. Let's use common sense instead. We should do what we can, like training and reducing sentences, so ex-felons are more likely to stay out of prison and we can spend our tax dollars on infrastructure and education.