Assemblymember Tom Torlakson, D-Contra Costa County, today breathlessly announced that bits and pieces of some of his previously vetoed education reform measures have been included once again in the Assembly’s omnibus “Race to the Top” legislation, AB 5x 8 (Brownley et al).
Included in the bill are significant portions of Torlakson proposals to develop a procedure for updating California’s education content standards, review the state’s academic achievement tests and require more accountability from the state’s charter schools. The content standards and the review of achievement tests, were vetoed in the past by Governor Schwarzenegger.
AB 5x 3 introduced last month by the candidate for State SUperintendent of Education, in advance of the omnibus bill’s drafting, proposes to further hobble parental choice in education with even more make work reporting for charter schools in California.
This is so upside down. These so called reforms are about more state control in Sacramento and plausible deniability for teachers’ unions then they are about making government accountable and giving parents the choice to educate their children. Now that would be real reform.
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Torlakson is all of a sudden a reformer now that is gaining popularity? Give me a break.
Torlakson is in the back pocket of the education establishment.
Just look at his bills and who supports them.
Don’t be fooled.