The California public education system may soon gain a new
adviser through a new council proposed last month.
The P-16 council, proposed by State Superintendent of Public
Instruction Jack O’Connell in December of 2004, would make
recommendations to the superintendent based on observations of the
current status of the school system, including all grades from
pre-school to four-year universities.
O’Connell proposed the state reconsider public education
in terms of P-16, expanding from the current K-12 model.
“We have to work to ensure a seamless education from
preschool all the way through university. Secondary education is
just as important in the governor’s eyes,” said Sue
Stickel, California’s deputy superintendent of curriculum and
instruction.
The council would include various panelists offering different
perspectives on the education system, such as teachers, principals,
superintendents, people from universities, members of foundations
and members of businesses, Stickel said.
“It’s a way to get all these people with a vested
interest in education to sit down together in one room and talk
about it,” said Rick Miller, a spokesman for
O’Connell.
The committee’s main priorities would be to increase
student achievement levels in all grades and to ensure that schools
hire qualified, well-trained teachers.
O’Connell also plans to at some point establish regional
councils that would collaborate with the state council.
Rose Garcia, a spokeswoman for California Education Secretary
Richard Riordan, believes the proposed council may aid the governor
in helping to make decisions regarding the education system.
“We have to make sure that every grade level is proficient
and ready for the next stage. Anyone with an aim to better
education is helpful,” Garcia said.
Miller said the council would offer opportunities to change the
education system in the future, specifically with regards to
college entrance examinations.
“Our goal, more in the case of (California State
Universities), but with UCs eventually, is for the STAR test to be
used as an entrance exam instead of the SAT,” Miller said. He
said if the state and colleges can be unified it will eliminate an
exam for students and help unite both the state government and
universities in helping more students obtain secondary
educations.
“The reason the council is from pre-school all the way to
universities is that we want to get people thinking about education
system as one seamless system. People see it as hard to get into
college and go beyond that, but maybe this will make it easier for
people to get into college,” Miller said.
Stickel acknowledged the importance of councils connecting to
all levels of education, saying, “The councils will allow
better two-way communication throughout California. Separate parts
of education could now fit together in a better way and all levels
of education can be seen as united.”