Jerry Brown

• Consolidate the 62 existing categorical programs, reducing the number to less than 20. Distribute the consolidated money on the basis of a weighted student formula. For example, extra funding should be provided for English language learners, low-income families, and other obvious needs.
• Have a completely flexible "base amount" grant to all districts that is related to what the state expects students to know and be able to do.

Meg Whitman

• Collapse the state's more than 50 categorical grants into simplified grants for Special Education, rewarding outstanding teachers and schools and other programs that contribute to greater student achievement.
• Provide the remaining school funding to local school districts in the form of a unified block grant.

Jerry Brown

• Weed out bad teachers and incentivize better and more creative teachers, but focus primarily on providing preparation and support for "average" teachers, who in most instances are educating our children.
• Provide outstanding teachers with ample time and compensation to mentor novice teachers and help improve their effectiveness. Use mentor-teaching opportunities to provide career advancement for the best teachers and a training ground for the next generation of principals and school leaders.
• Have local districts play a role in alternative teacher preparation by offering apprenticeships that combine university coursework with extensive classroom experience as a way of attracting new teacher candidates, including those who will enter the profession as a second career.
• Strengthen STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) teaching and increase the number of STEM graduates.
• Work with teacher training institutions and state agencies to recruit more teachers from the top third of high school graduates.
• Begin teacher preparation in the undergraduate years and then continue into postgraduate programs in order to provide more in-depth training.
• Encourage teacher collaboration at school sites to improve instruction and student performance.
• Create a system where the focus on evaluating and improving teacher performance in the classroom is the norm. For example, local school districts should consider on-site visitation programs aimed specifically at teacher performance.
• Strengthen the recruitment, evaluation, and training of principals. Using public and private funding sources, create a new leadership academy that focuses on developing principals who can be academic leaders.

Meg Whitman

• Provide special bonuses to high-achieving teachers, administrators, and schools to attract high-quality professionals into teaching and to reward those teachers who are doing an excellent job.
• California suffers from a lack of math and science teachers who are actually educated in those disciplines. To fill the gap, create and strengthen alternative pathways to the classroom that allow professionals with math and science backgrounds to receive expedited accreditation to teach in public schools.

Jerry Brown

• Hold schools accountable for outcomes—not for how to achieve those outcomes—by simplifying the Education Code so that school districts have more flexibility on how to best meet state standards.
• Continue to focus on narrowing the achievement gap and reducing the state's dropout rate.

Meg Whitman

• Institute a system that grades schools from A to F so parents can easily understand how well their children's school is performing. Post the grades online and give parents the option of transferring their kids out of failing schools or converting to a charter school.
• If a school receives an F grade, allow parents in that school district to immediately petition to turn the school into a charter school. It would only require a fast-track election and a simple majority vote to change the status.

Jerry Brown

• Reduce the scope of state tests and the testing time so the results can be provided to educators and parents more quickly.
• Supplement year-end tests with very short assessments during the school year to help teachers, students, and their families know where students stand and what specific improvements are needed.
• Develop tests that measure understanding, not just factoids.
• Change state tests so they are linked to college preparation and career readiness.

Meg Whitman

As of August 20, 2010, the candidate had not addressed this issue.

Jerry Brown

• Create local and state initiatives to increase school focus on science, history, and the humanities—without reducing needed attention to math and English.
• Experiment with online and other instructional approaches that will use available school time in more efficient ways.
• Expand curriculum and teaching materials in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects, including online and virtual programs, enhanced teaching materials, partnerships with high-tech companies, and hands-on learning opportunities.
• Adopt instructional materials that provide intensive intervention and support for English learners. These materials should include all levels of language proficiency.
• Teach good character and skills of citizenship.

Meg Whitman

As of August 20, 2010, the candidate had not addressed this issue.

Jerry Brown

• Change current school law or practices that allow students to undermine classroom decorum and disrupt the learning process. Give teachers effective means to maintain discipline in the classroom.

Meg Whitman

As of August 20, 2010, the candidate had not addressed this issue.

Jerry Brown

• Encourage the good charter schools and close the bad ones.
• Make available to local schools and districts the flexibility and innovative programs that charter schools make possible.

Meg Whitman

• Eliminate California's cap on charter schools.
• Utilize charters more fully to create competition in the public school system.
• Allow parents in failing schools to immediately petition to turn the school into a charter school. (See Accountability above.)

Jerry Brown

• Create schools that focus on a particular theme (e.g., the arts, public service, technology).
• Create career-focused schools supported by local businesses and other institutions.

Meg Whitman

As of August 20, 2010, the candidate had not addressed this issue.

Jerry Brown

• Channel cost savings from the prison system to higher education.
• It is unclear whether the current financial model for our universities can be maintained. Convene a representative group to develop a new state Master Plan for Higher Education.
• Explore online learning and new technologies to the fullest as well as “extended University” programs to increase educational productivity, expand access to higher learning, and reduce costs.
• Reduce burdensome state regulations and mandates for community colleges.
• Ensure that community college transfer courses closely align with, and are accepted by, the California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) systems so that transfer students are not forced to take redundant courses.

Meg Whitman

• Use savings from welfare and other budgetary reforms to invest $1 billion in the University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) systems.
• Take advantage of the academic excellence at our universities and create economic opportunity zones to encourage businesses to locate within a specified zone around these institutions. Tax incentives offered within these zones would be focused on hiring workers, promoting research and development, increasing access to state funds and loans, and encouraging a close collaboration with universities.