FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 9, 2014
CONTACT: Bill Bird @ 916-651-4029
Senator Huff on Universal Pre-School: ‘Why should we expand a broken public-school system?’
SACRAMENTO – Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar) issued the following statement regarding SB 837, a bill that would require California school districts and charter schools that offer kindergarten, to also offer transitional kindergarten to all four year-olds:
“I’m committed to tackling the student achievement gap, but I don’t believe that simply expanding a school system that’s broken and failing so many kids, especially kids from lower-income families and poor neighborhoods, does anything to solve the problem.
“Why would we spend billions of dollars on a new program when two years ago, the governor and the Democrats convinced Californians to raise taxes because we were out of money? There are many other ways to tackle the student achievement gap instead of spending more on what’s not working now, such as opening up teacher classroom assignments based on skills and need instead of time on the job. Reforms that will actually save money will go a lot further toward making sure every child receives a world-class education. Yet instead of adopting these reforms, Democrats have rejected them year after year.”
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Senator Huff serves as the Senate Republican Leader and represents the 29th Senate District covering portions of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino Counties.