High School Students Taking the California High School Exit Exam Get Help from Nava's Bill
Lawsuit Settled as Result
Sacramento - In 2000, the California Legislature established the
California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) as a requirement for High School
graduation. We want California's high school students to be proficient
in the skills they need to succeed in life. However, thousands of students
need additional time and help to pass the CAHSEE. At this point, 29,000
students are working to pass the exam and obtain a high school diploma.
Over 30,000 students from the Class of 2006 have yet to pass.
In February 2006, a lawsuit challenged the exam. The courts upheld the exam but urged the parties to "find the pathways necessary" to resolve the suit. AB 347 (Nava) will bring resolution to Valenzuela v. O'Connell et al while also giving students the tools they need to meet and pass the exam.
Nava said, "The lawsuit raised some good points. My bill is designed to settle the outstanding issues and improve services to students. Students who need a little help to pass the test should get it."
Students can receive up to two additional years of CAHSEE intensive instruction and services. Schools that qualify must tell students about these extra services. The County Offices of Education and County Superintendents must monitor district compliance with the provisions of the bill. AB 347 will deliver the support and assistance to students that will make California's high school diploma the envy of the nation's public schools.
Making a Difference
There are many wonderful people and organizations who impact the 35th Assembly District. From time to time, we will profile them in the feature "Making a Difference."
Sharon Hoshida, Decades of Service to the Santa Barbara Community
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| Sharon Hoshida |
Santa Barbara - "I am proud to have Sharon in the 35th Assembly district. She has dedicated her life to community service. She is passionate and works tirelessly to create a more equitable society," said Assemblymember Nava.
Sharon Hoshida has been a fixture in
and outside the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) community
since 1971. At UCSB, she is a founding member of the Asian American
Faculty/Staff Association, sexual harassment prevention educator, advisor
to various student groups, serves on the Chancellor's Advisory Council
on the Status of Women, and currently part of the Vice Chancellor of
Student Affairs' Mental Health Work Group. In 1998, Sharon Hoshida became
Program Director for the Women's Center and in January 2007, was named
Acting Director.
Sharon works diligently to further
the Center's goal of promoting an understanding of the role and impact
of gender in our lives and our society and helping people of diverse
backgrounds achieve their intellectual, professional and personal goals
and realize their full potential.
In her off-campus life, she is very
active in the progressive, feminist political arena. Her community involvement
includes working on the successfully adopted Santa Barbara City Living
Wage. She has served on the executive boards of community groups such
as the George Washington Carver Scholarship Club, the Women's Economic
Justice Project (a workgroup of CAUSE), President of the Santa Barbara
Women's Political Committee, the Nominations Committee for Planned Parenthood
of Santa Barbara/Ventura/San Luis Obispo, and served a three-year term
on the Santa Barbara County Affirmative Action Commission. Sharon is
a founding steering committee member for the Women's Literary Festival
of Santa Barbara, member of CodePink and local peace activist. She has
worked on countless political campaigns in Santa Barbara since walking
precincts for Robert Kennedy in 1968.
Sharon and husband Gregory Freeland, the Chair of the Political Science Department at California Lutheran University, have two adult children.
Assemblymember Nava Attends Grand Opening of Santa Clara River Bridge
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| Assemblymember Nava, left, greets bicyclists as they break the inaugural ribbon of the new Santa Clara River Bridge in Oxnard |
Oxnard - Assemblymember Pedro Nava, Chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee, Will Kempton, Director of the California Department of Transportation, and local officials attended the grand opening of the Santa Clara River Bridge. The project took 5 years to complete and cost approximately $111 million dollars. The new bridge replaces the old seven-lane bridge with a new 12 vehicle lane bridge. The new bridge will improve traffic flow between the cities of Ventura and Oxnard, provide increased traffic capacity, improve air quality and provide a more efficient and safer transition between State Route 1 and U.S. 101---State Route 1--Oxnard Blvd.
Said Assemblymember Nava during the event, "On this location 109 years ago the Santa Clara River Bridge was opened on the cusp of the 20th Century-a time of rapid change in California and our country. And here we stand more than a century later in the first decade of a new century, the 21st Century, celebrating a new beginning of a bridge to the future for Ventura County and California."
Legislative Update
Protect
the remaining endangered California condors: AB 821 the Ridley-Tree
Condor Preservation Act protects the remaining 305 endangered California
condors on the planet by requiring hunters to use nonlead ammunition
while hunting in condor range.
Update: This bill is on its way to the Governor. To ask Governor
Schwarzenegger to protect the remaining California condors please take
a moment to register
here and ask him to sign AB 821.
Help
our kids have "Safe Routes to School:" AB 57 helps to get
more kids walking and bicycling to schools safely by funding projects
such as the construction of bicycle, pedestrian safety, and traffic
calming projects such as sidewalks, trails, bike lanes, and intersection
improvements.
Update: AB 57 passed out of the legislature and is on its
way to the Governor. Please take a moment and register
here to show your support for AB 57, and ask Governor Schwarzenegger
to sign this bill into law.
Everyone has a Stake in Improving Public Education
By State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell
Throughout California, summer break has come to an end and the new school year has begun. This is a truly special time of year because parents, teachers, administrators, and students once again find themselves engaged in a noble cause: building for the future of our state by improving the education of our children.
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| Jack O'Connell, California State Superintendent of Public Instruction |
As Californians, we have a moral, economic, and social responsibility to confront and overcome this disparity. We know that all students can learn to high standards. In order to close the achievement gap we must find ways to help every student meet their full potential. I have appointed a P-16 Council, representing all segments of education from preschool through college, as well as business and community leaders, and am working with the Council to develop an ambitious plan that can be implemented and sustained that holds the State of California accountable for creating the conditions necessary for closing the achievement gap. I am also holding an Achievement Gap Summit this fall that will bring thousands of educators to Sacramento to share strategies and best practices that work to close the gap.
Preparing every student to successfully compete in the competitive global economy is tied directly to the future success of California's economy.
All of us - parents, teachers, administrators, students, and public officials - have a stake in improving our schools and closing the achievement gap.
Coming Soon... |
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Nava Hears Testimony on California's Homeland Security Grant Funding
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| Director of Homeland Security Matthew Bettenhausen (right) and Chief Deputy Director Frank McCarton (back left) of the Office of Emergency Services discuss the homeland security grant process for California |
Sacramento - Chaired by Assemblymember Pedro Nava, the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Services and Homeland Security convened on Tuesday, August 21, 2007 to discuss how California coordinates spending of federal homeland security funding. Currently, the federal government awards various grants to the states and some local jurisdictions to provide protection against terrorist attacks and natural disasters. Assemblymember Nava's goal was to determine how the state spends this money.
"It is important for the public to know what our leaders are doing to make everyone in the state safer," Nava stated.
The committee learned that the federal government is hampering the state's ability to effectively distribute homeland security funding because of its ever-changing guidelines on how the money should be spent. As the federal grant programs change annually, or often times more frequently, the Office of Homeland Security (OHS) and local governments are unable to effectively make long-term investment plans for fear that their funding sources could shift to other priorities or disappear altogether.
The hearing also focused on the state plan for ensuring interoperability among law enforcement, fire, and other first responders. Interoperability refers to the ability of various communications equipment used by emergency personnel to function with each other.
A committee made up of state emergency response experts released an interoperability report to the Legislature earlier this year. The report asserts that California's public safety agencies' radio communications systems are crippled by a lack of interoperability, channel congestion, aging equipment, inadequate funding, and limited functionality.
"During emergencies, it is critical that those on the scene are able to communicate with one another," said Assemblymember Nava. "Because the federal government will be providing a significant amount of funding to the states to enhance interoperability, we need to have an effective plan that will bring our communication equipment up to speed."
Assemblymember Nava to co-host Free Veterans Health and Resource Fair And Veterans Oral History Project September 29, 2007, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
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| Assemblymember Nava with veteran during 1st Annual Veterans Health and Resource Fair in 2006 |
Oxnard
- Veterans, seniors, and their families are welcomed to the 2nd
annual Veterans Health and Resource Fair sponsored by Assemblymember
Nava, Procare Foundation and the VA Steering Committee of Ventura County.
Organized to provide health and benefit information to area veterans
in one place, the fair will feature representatives from healthcare
organizations throughout the county as well as from county, state and
federal agencies to answer health, benefits, and service related questions.
Free vision, diabetes, and blood pressure health screenings will be
provided during the event.
The fair will also feature a veteran oral history project where stories
may be recorded and told so that future generations do not forget the
sacrifices of our veterans. Veterans are encouraged to bring old photos
for the interview. Food and entertainment will be available.
"Last year, working with Col. George Compton, Ventura County Veterans
Affairs Officer, we had over 300 veterans attend and receive information
about benefits and services. I hope to break that record this year and
look forward to meeting our veterans and their families," said Nava.
Partial list of participants: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, California Department of Veterans Affairs, Employment Development Department, VA Greater Los Angeles Health Care System, County of Ventura, Camarillo Health Care District, Office of Congresswoman Lois Capps, AARP, Ventura County Small Business Development Center, Disabled American Vets, and Clinicas del Camino Real Mobile Health Screening Unit.
Saturday, September 29th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 1700 N. Lombard Street, Oxnard, CA 93030 (Ventura County Adult Day Care parking lot)
For more information please contact (805) 483-9808 or (805) 988-1173.
Assemblymember Nava Urges Senator Boxer for more Federal Funds to Secure California's Bridges
Sacramento - Calling on the federal government to step up and help pay for the cost of fixing the nation's ailing bridges, Assemblymember Nava, Chair of the Assembly Transportation Committee testified at a special hearing conducted by U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer on August 15.
Senator Boxer, chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, conducted the hearing at the State Capitol in the wake of the Minneapolis bridge collapse that killed 13 people.
Media accounts following the collapse noted that the bridge had been deemed "structurally deficient" under federal bridge rating system. Of the over 12,000 bridges in California, over 1,620 of the state-owned bridges are also rated "structurally deficient"-a characterization that transportation officials say is over-dramatic.
According to Caltrans director Will Kempton, also testifying at the hearing, virtually all the bridges considered "structurally deficient" have pavement problems, not problems that threaten the integrity of the structure itself.
Responding to testimony that 40% of the nations' freight moves over Southern California's aging roads and bridges, Assemblymember Nava stated, "that benefits the rest of the nation. California should not have to bear the cost itself of moving this freight."
Senator Boxer has vowed to return to Washington and "review the status of U.S. infrastructure."
In Profile: State Assembly Transportation Committee
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Sacramento - The Assembly Transportation Committee has jurisdiction over the California Highway Patrol, Caltrans, and the Department of Motor Vehicles. Rules of the road, transportation financing, highways, airports, transit, and seaport legislation are set through the committee.
A dedicated team with unique experience guides transportation policy:
Janet Dawson: Shaping transportation policy and legislation
since 1991 through the Caltrans Office of Legislative Affairs, Janet
served as Caltrans Legislative Director for 6 years before leaving to
become the Chief Consultant, Assembly Transportation Committee.
Alejandro Esparza: Senior consultant and graduate
of U.C. Santa Barbara, he began his Capitol career through the prestigious
Jesse M. Unruh Assembly Fellowship program. Alejandro later served as
a Senior Government Relations Representative for the Orange County Transportation
Authority.
Ed Imai: An Environmental Studies graduate, in 1975,
Ed started with the State Lands Commission environmental planning unit,
later joining Caltrans where he worked in transportation, environmental
planning, and legislative offices. Ed has been with the Committee since
2005.
Denise Plants: Committee Secretary Denise has been
with the Legislature for over 17 years and with the Assembly Transportation
Committee for 6. Denise is the master of rules, procedures, and protocol.
Howard Posner: A three-decade veteran of transportation issues, Howard was the Caltrans legislative coordinator for most of the 80's and 90's. He has been an Assembly transportation consultant since 2001. Retiring as the committee's chief consultant in 2006, Howard was asked back to work on special projects.
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