Tuesday, 10/31/2006 Print Version |

Schwarzenegger Visits Florin High School in Sacramento

SUPERINTENDENT LADD: Good afternoon. I’m Dr. Steven Ladd, Superintendent of the Elk Grove Unified School District. On behalf of our Board of Education, many of whom are here today, Florin High School staff and students, I am delighted to welcome Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the Elk Grove Unified School District. I would also like to welcome California’s Secretary of Education, Alan Bersin, and Jim Aschwanden, Vice-Chair of the California Vocational Education Alliance. We at Elk Grove believe that career-technical education courses and academies represent another pathway of relevance and rigor in the high school experience. Today’s career-technical education combines college preparatory classes with real world training. It is wonderful that college and career-technical education are no longer viewed as an either/or question. The Governor has consistently demonstrated his belief in the importance of career-technical education and the importance of having facilities necessary for this type of educational experience. We are excited to have the Governor here today showing his strong support for the funding of career-technical education, and I now turn the podium over to our Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Applause) GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER: Thank you. Well, it’s great to be here today at the Florin High School, and I want to thank School Superintendent Steven Ladd for his great leadership, and his great belief in career-tech education. I also want to thank Principal Mark Cerutti and Secretary of Education Alan Bersin for being here today. Where is Alan? Oh, there, okay. And then also we have Jim Aschwanden, who is with the California Vocational Education Alliance, and then Brittany Turner, who is going to say a few words afterwards, which I’m looking forward to, and also Sheila Folan, a teacher here, who is doing a great job in teaching this kids. And I’m basically here to just lend support to this great, great education, vocational education. As I’ve been saying since I’ve come into office, of how important it is for our high schools and community colleges to offer career-tech education. It’s something that I grew up with, and I got to know and to learn the value of career-tech education back in Austria. I myself, I’m a product of career-tech education. I learned how to be a salesman; I had a three-year course in Austria which helped me very much. Little did I know then that I would be using those skills the rest of my life, selling bodybuilding and fitness, and selling my movies, and marketing my movies. I think you learn so many great, great things when you go through career-tech education. The only problem that we have here in California is that we don’t have enough schools that really have the facilities, the career-tech educational facilities. And this is why Democrats and Republicans got together this year and approved a bond, which is 1D, the Education Bond, to build more schools, hundreds of schools, modernize 10s of thousands of classrooms. And we have specifically put aside 500 million dollars for career-tech educational facilities, because we want to make sure that other schools have facilities like this, where the kids can learn. Earlier today I was at a school where we saw a mechanic place where the kids could actually learn how to become a car mechanic. They built, actually, in that school, cars from scratch. They start with motors, building the motors, the engines, and then built a car. I mean, this really was very impressive. Or what we see here, where the kids learn how to put flower arrangements together, or if they learn how to be a carpenter, or how to be a computer technician. I mean, there’s an endless amount of professions they can learn, and these are all high paying professions. So I think that we should give our children a choice, and I think it’s very important that counselors are trained in that same way, so they can offer the kids, “Okay, you can go on to a four-year college, where you can become a lawyer, or you can also become a mechanic. These are the courses that we have available. Or if you want to be a carpenter, those are the courses that we have available,” and to create the coordination between the high schools and also the community colleges, which we have done. So we have put money into community colleges for this, and we have also put money in for our high schools. And I just want to say that I’m very proud of all of you for doing such great work and studying hard, and improving, and getting ready for a great career in the future. So now I want to hand this over, the microphone, to our Secretary of Education Alan Bersin. Please, Alan, if you want to say a few words. Thank you. SECRETARY BERSIN: Thank you. The Governor is going to be remembered for many things, and the young men and women who he’s met here today will remember meeting him. But in education, when your children are in high school, people are going to remember a lot of things about Arnold Schwarzenegger, but in education they will remember that he made it safe to talk about vocational education again in California, and he put his money where his mouth was. So the support that he has shown for vocational education has been important for California students, for California generally, and for California schools. First of all, you can see, and the students here will tell you, that vocational education provides them with real life skills. It provides them with what they’re going to need to be able to raise their families and to make a good living in California. It’s real, and it’s going to be profitable for skills in an economy of California. It’s great for California because in fact we know that we don’t have enough carpenters, we don’t have enough floral designers, we don’t have enough health care professionals, nurses, we don’t have enough teachers. And the Governor’s emphasis on making high school real and beginning people, to teach people the skills they need to enter these high-paying jobs, is a really important thing for the California economy. And finally, it’s important for California schools, because California schools are doing very well in the elementary grades because of the support that the Governor and the Legislature have provided in fully funding education -- 5 billion dollars this year. But at the high school, we need to make it real and we need to make it rigorous, and we need to build the relationships. And vocational education, career-technical education, is going to be an important way for high schools to meet the needs of our young people. And the Governor has not only talked the talk, but he’s walked the walk on vocational education. He’s put 20 million dollars into the budget for several years now to get community colleges and high schools working together to provide you, our students, the workers of tomorrow, with opportunities. He’s put 80 million dollars into the budget to buy the equipment that our teachers need, and our principals need, to make vocational a go. So this is a way to celebrate, and you’ve helped the students in celebrating this great accomplishment of promoting California’s vocational education agenda. And it’s my pleasure to introduce a fellow member of the State Board of Education, Jim Aschwanden, who is the Vice-Chair of the California Vocational Education Alliance. Jim? MR. ASCHWANDEN: Thank you, Secretary Bersin. I would just simply like to publicly thank Governor Schwarzenegger for his incredible leadership on this very, very important issue. For far too long, education has been something that’s been disconnected to students in the way that they relate what they’re learning to their ultimate goal in life. Career-technical education offers a great opportunity to make what we’re doing here come alive and relevant for students. And Governor Schwarzenegger’s leadership not only is appreciated by the teachers and the parents, but I would like to thank the Governor particularly on behalf of the students who are currently being given the opportunity to participate in those programs, and for the future groups of students that will be able to enjoy that because of his leadership. I’d also like to recognize the support that Secretary Bersin has given this issue, and discussing it all over the state of California. We're looking forward to next week, and seeing this infrastructure package pass, and get to the important job of increasing the career-technical education facilities that are available to students throughout California. At this time I’d like to introduce a very special person, somebody that has actually walked the steps of career-tech education, and I’d like to ask Brittany Turner from Florin High School to come up and share her thoughts with us at this time. (Applause) MS. TURNER: As a student at Florin High, on my way to UC Davis to be a veterinarian, career-technical education is very, very beneficial, because as a freshman and currently this year I’m in floral design, ag econ, and over the past years I’ve been in ag science, ag animal science, and integrated science. And, for example, for floral design, benefiting me, on my way to UC Davis I will try to get involved in a floral shop for college funding, to pay for my college, and not only depending on my parents. And although, as a benefittor of the career-technical education, I will -- not starting as an incoming freshman at college, but starting as a freshman in high school I will basically get a head start in front of others. It really is a benefit towards students like myself. (Applause) GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER: Very nice. That was very impressive, I thought, because I didn’t even think about that, that she wants to go and take career-tech education so that she can go out and work and make enough money so she can help with paying for her education. I mean, think about that. She wants to add, so the responsibility is not just on her parents. That is fantastic. Let’s give her a big hand for that. (Applause) So if you have any questions about this, please. Yes? QUESTIONS/ANSWERS Q: Governor, (IA) the bonds, the polls are showing them to be kind of close, and tenuous there, and that for it to have a real good chance you’ve got to go out and sell this to Republicans. How are you going to go about doing that? GOVERNOR: I’ve been doing this since we passed the bonds; I’ve been traveling up and down the state to talk about the importance of rebuilding California, to let the people know that we have an infrastructure right now that is for 20 million, or 25 million people, but not for 37 million people, that we need more roads. People are getting stuck in traffic, and they’re frustrated and angry that they’re not spending more time with their families, that they’re spending hours in traffic. I think people are angry about their kids being in overcrowded classrooms, or they don’t have career-tech educational facilities. I think we all know that we have to expand our universities and our community colleges. We all know that we have very, very vulnerable levees that have been built 100 years by farmers, but they are falling apart, that those levees need to be rebuilt. We have done a great job since I have come into office to rebuild the 34 levee sites that were very vulnerable. We have another 71 levee sites identified that are extremely vulnerable, that we are starting to build right now, but we have to really rebuild the whole levee system, and that’s why we put 4.1 billion dollars aside for that. So it’s basically going up and down the state and letting people know how important it is that we invest in our future, and that this is the right way to go. I have a great vision for the state of California, and I am very happy that our poll numbers show that this is increasing in popularity so the momentum is on our side. We are, with all of our infrastructure bonds, above the 50 percent mark, and some are as high as 58, 59 percent. So I’m very happy the way things are going, and I’m very happy also that people now understand that it is important for us to start looking into the future, that very soon we will be 42 and 45 million people, that we have to build for that population. Q: Governor, speaking of bonds, the minimum wage bill, the global warming bill -- your opponent says that essentially you’ve sold out your core values for the sake of election year bipartisanship. Your response to that? GOVERNOR: I think it is extremely important also that as we expand the economy and as we see an economic boom in California, that we also protect the environment, and that we also protect the hardworking people. So this is why we increased the minimum wage, because we know that the private sector has benefited with the decrease of Workers’ Comp costs. We have lowered the Workers’ Comp costs because of the great reforms that were done by Democrats and Republicans, that we saw now a decrease of 50 percent. That means that around 13 billion dollars annually is being saved by the private sector. Therefore we do have the money available to increase the minimum wage. And I always said when the economy comes back that we can increase the minimum wage. And when it comes to protecting the environment, I always made that very clear, even when I ran in the recall election, that we have to do everything that we can to be pro-economy and pro-environment simultaneously. There are many people that have questioned that, and have said, “No, you can only be pro-economy or pro-environment.” I think we have proven them wrong, that you can actually do both. And now California is not only the leader in job creation and in revenue creation and in stem cell research, but also in protecting the environment, in clean technology. And I’m looking forward for us to be able to roll back our greenhouse emissions to the 1990 level by the year 2020. So there are all kinds of great things that are happening here in California, because both of the parties have come together this year. And I’ve said many times that this is an unusual situation in America, because it is polarizing right now. As you know, everyone is -- Democrats try to derail Republicans, Republicans try to derail Democrats. And what we have done in California is, we have said, “Let’s get together and let’s solve those problems and make decisions that are best for the people of California.” So I’m very proud of our legislators, that they were able to do that, and I’m looking forward to continuing protecting the environment and continuing making the economy grow. Yes, please. Q: Governor, we’re just a few days away from the election, and you have a very comfortable lead in the polls, according to the PPIC, the latest poll. However, among Latino voters it seems to be going down. The number right now is 25 percent, about 10 points down from what your strategist called the ‘magic number’ of 35 percent. We talked about that with Mathew Dowd. Is that a source of concern for you, sir? GOVERNOR: I’m very happy that we have a great following, and that we have great support from the Latino community. And I think the Latino community recognizes that I have worked very hard for the Latino community, and that when we bring the economy back, and when we create 20 billion dollars in extra revenues, that that money goes towards, for instance, education. And when we talk about increasing education funding by 5.1 billion dollars, that the Latino community benefits tremendously from that. Also, when we talk about safety and protecting people on the streets and so on -- and public safety has always been my priority -- that the Latino community feels also that this has an effect on them. So if we talk about after school programs -- which is something that I’ve championed for many, many years -- and now we have 428 million dollars available for after school programs, which mostly benefits inner-city schools or low-performing schools, the Latino community benefits from that. So there is an endless amount of things that we have done that benefit the Latino community, and this is why we have seen the poll numbers actually going up, and more and more and more Latinos recognize that I’m on their side, and that I’m an immigrant that totally understands what it is like to fight for and to make sure that everyone can recognize the California Dream. I recognized it and I have turned my dream into reality. I want every Latino and every citizen in California and everyone that lives here, make their dreams become a reality. STAFF: Last question. GOVERNOR: Yes? Q: Governor, when you introduced your bond package back in January it included a debt ceiling. SCA 21 had a 6 percent debt service ratio. It was rejected by the legislature. Do you still think that some form of a debt ceiling is important? GOVERNOR: I think it is important, yes. And I think that we are below 6 percent, so I think that is important. We should -- even though there are states that have gone above 6 percent, but I think it is something that I feel more comfortable with, if we stay around the 6 percent or below that ceiling. That it didn’t pass is not the end of the world; we just have to keep an eye on it. I think that’s the important thing. But I’m very proud of the legislature, that they voted for this 37 billion dollar infrastructure bond, and that Democrats and Republicans came together and did something that is historic. As you know, never in the history of California has there been such a huge infrastructure package, and I think this is something that will make us shine, and this is the only state in the union, as I have said earlier, besides job creation, and revenue creation, and stem cell research, and taking care of our environment, and biotechnology and all of those things, we are leading again. We are leading the nation and we are leading the world, as a matter of fact, in some of those areas. And I think this is something that we Californians all can be very proud of. Thank you very much. Thank you.