Partnership supports a UC Merced medical school.

A partnership of state and San Joaquin Valley officials on Friday endorsed proposed legislation that gives more authority to local school superintendents and supported an effort to create a medical school at the University of California at Merced.

The California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley made the endorsements as part of an ambitious program to improve the economy and living conditions of the eight-county San Joaquin Valley.

The task force is composed of representatives of the Valley and eight members of Gov. Schwarzenegger's Cabinet. It has been holding public forums throughout the Valley and will forward an action plan to the governor in November.

At a forum attended by about 180 people at the Fresno Convention Center, the panel backed AB 2859 by Assembly Member Juan Arambula, which would give local school districts more flexibility when spending and creating curriculums but also make them more accountable.

Arambula, D-Fresno, also recommends establishing a crisis management team to aid struggling districts. The proposal drew raves from Fresno Mayor Alan Autry, who has long wanted city representation on the school board.

"If left intact, this is superior to the mayor's appointment process. The goal is to create an accountable entity," Autry said. "This is where I've been headed for five years."

Meanwhile, an effort to create a medical school at UC Merced, proposed in large part to alleviate a doctor shortage in the Valley, is gaining speed. A new medical school also would help realize a goal of the grass-roots Regional Jobs Initiative, which is trying to create more health-care jobs in the area.

The San Joaquin Valley has 24% fewer primary care doctors and 50% fewer specialists per capita than the rest of California, according to estimates.

Task force member Fred Ruiz, noting that a similar effort is under way to build a medical school at UC Riverside, urged Maria Pallavicini, dean of natural sciences at UC Merced, to keep pressing forward.

"I understand how important this is to the Valley," the Dinuba businessman said. "You can't let your guard down."

The panel also supported an effort to beef up nurse-training programs to the point where the San Joaquin Valley supplies hospitals throughout the state. Last year, 2,246 people applied to nine nursing-school programs in the Valley, but there was only enough room for 949, or 42%.

"There was just not enough capacity," said Tim Curley, regional vice president of the Hospital Council of Northern and Central California. According to a Hospital Council survey, 22 hospitals in the Valley reported 791 open registered nurse positions.

Speaking to the task force, Curley recommended the formation of a Central Valley Nursing Education Consortium, which would have a goal of increasing the number of nursing graduates by 250 in 2008 and 500 by 2011. The task force supported Curley's request for $495,000 from the state budget to seed the consortium.

Along with supporting the health-care and education programs, the task force heard testimony from business and professional leaders who made the following recommendations:

Ensure that training funds are not wasted by going to programs that don't match people up with jobs.

Embrace industries and technology devoted to clean water and energy.

Step up efforts to create vocational educational curriculums. "Everyone doesn't have to go to college to make good money," said Tom Vidmar, president of Anlin Window Systems in Clovis.

Improving air quality is the greatest long-term issue.

Make sure the California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley continues in some capacity past November.

Affordable housing. In 1999, 2,474 houses in the Fresno area were available for a family earning 80% of the median income. Today, it's 261, said Keith Bergthold of the Fresno Housing Alliance.

The reporter can be reached at snax@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6495.