THIS month, my Oakland Schools bill passed the final hurdle in the California State Legislature and now awaits a signature by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. We are hopeful the governor will support our efforts to return full democratic participation to Oakland parents in the decisions affecting their children's education by signing Assembly Bill 45 into law.

The sudden and unexpected departure of yet another state administrator has brought to light the genuine urgency of taking every step possible to ensure stability in our children's educational environment. With the governor's support, we can create a partnership with the state that promotes this stability and guarantees the continued success of the Oakland Unified School District. AB 45 achieves this objective by creating a structured and orderly process gauged by clearly defined benchmarks for returning administrative responsibility to the school district. This measured process will allow for a stable transfer of authority to occur without negatively impacting the educational experience of our children.

It is clear to me that the education of children and the role that schools must play in our efforts to improve the quality of life in the city of Oakland are of paramount concern to us all. The Oakland school district has made demonstrable and consistent progress over the last couple of years, even making the largest improvement in the Academic Performance Index test scores among the 33 largest unified school districts. AB 45 will ensure the state and local partnership that is necessary to sustain this progress and reward the district for continued success.

By signing AB 45, Gov. Schwarzenegger will be approving a measure that adds systems of accountability to the state's role in this receivership, and ensures the responsibility of a local school board to remain diligent and responsive to parents and children. It eliminates the ambiguous, open-ended nature of the state takeover that has been a source of frustration to so many in our community. Finally, AB 45 has mechanisms in place so that the Oakland school district will be financially secure in years to come.

I was encouraged this summer when the state transferred governance and community relations back to the new school board. I believe this is a good start toward full and lasting accountability. Having a school board with the tools of authority is fundamental to any successful educational system, as is the full democratic participation of parents in the educational decisions of their children.

Please join me in requesting that the governor sign AB 45 into law, which will help ensure a state and local partnership that will make the education of our children our continued No. 1 priority.

Sandre Swanson, D-Oakland, represents the 16th Assembly District, which includes Oakland, Alameda and Piedmont.