Only 1 in 5 Lawmakers Has Child in Public School

Fewer than one in five state lawmakers has a child enrolled in California public schools at a time when reform of the education system is a top priority in the Capitol and among voters, a Los Angeles Times survey has found.

About 1 in 10 of California’s senators and Assembly members have children in private schools, while 15% have no children. About half have children who are out of school or not yet old enough to enroll, the survey found.

As for Gov. Gray Davis, who made education his “first, second and third priorities” during his debut year in office, he and his wife, Sharon, have no children.

Some scholars say the dearth of state policymakers with daily classroom contact may be distorting the education debate.

Bruce Fuller, a professor of education and public policy at State Daily ContactState Daily ContactUC Berkeley, suspects that legislators without school-age children may have a more one-dimensional approach to decision-making, making them less critical of “remedies put forward by wonks.”

“It’s harder to think outside the box” if you lack a day-to-day window on the education world, Fuller said. “You’re forced to rely on secondary information and hearsay . . . and that may lead to a very different take on the system.”

Lawmakers without school-age children reject that analysis, vigorously defending their ability to make informed decisions about issues ranging from class sizes to high school exit exams. They note that legislators often--even typically--cast votes on matters with which they have no personal experience.

“In my 34 years of making education policy, no one has ever questioned my insight or knowledge,” said state Sen. John Vasconcellos (D-Santa Clara), who has no children. A member of the Senate education committee, Vasconcellos said he relies on friends with children, chats with his godchildren and visits schools--among other means--to help guide his votes and inspire legislation.

“The most important thing is, I’m profoundly a learner and I want every kid to be a learner,” he said.

New Set of Issues, Proposals

The Times survey comes as the Legislature is poised to debate a new batch of education topics, ranging from the adequacy of California’s per-pupil spending to teacher training and the governor’s proposal for merit-based scholarships.

All senators and all but two Assembly members responded to the survey. Assemblymen Tom McClintock (R-Northridge) and Roderick Wright (D-Los Angeles) said they feel no obligation to disclose whether their children attend private or public schools.

“It really isn’t anybody’s business,” Wright said. He added that his children’s school experiences have little bearing on his thinking about education policy.

“Anecdotal information about what happened to my children on Tuesday afternoon should not be the basis for the way I vote on something that affects millions of children in California,” Wright said. “We have to be careful that we don’t get into that narrow kind” of thinking.

But Assemblyman Lou Correa (D-Anaheim), a father of three, said his connection with his children’s public school is absolutely integral to his deliberations over what’s plaguing the system at large. Parenting school-age children enhances his commitment too: “When I’m making policy for California, I’m making policy for my children as well.”

The survey found that 35 of California’s 119 legislators (one Senate seat is vacant) have school-age children, while 64 have children who have completed primary and secondary education or have yet to begin it. An additional 18 have no children.

Analysts said they were not surprised by the small number of legislators with children now in school. The costs--in money and time--of campaigning for and holding public office can weigh heavily on families.

“People who have kids in school often don’t have the time and finances to devote to a self-absorbed activity like holding elective office,” said Priscilla Wohlstetter, professor and director of the Center on Educational Governance at USC. “So you get people who are young and childless or older, with grown kids.”

A similar profile exists on many big city school boards. On the seven-member Los Angeles Unified School District board, four members have grown children, two have preschool-age children and one is childless.

The 11-member State Board of Education, which sets statewide curriculum guidelines and distributes school funds, has four members with school-age children.

Among other findings, the Times survey revealed that about one-third of the legislators with school-age children send them to private institutions. In the California population overall, about 10% of children attend private schools.

For politicians, the question of where to send a child to school can cause a painful clash of personal preference and public values. The Clinton family discovered this in 1993, when their decision to enroll Chelsea in an elite private school prompted some critics to question the depth of the president’s commitment to improving public schools.

More recently, in California, gubernatorial candidate Al Checchi took similar heat after hesaid he would not “sacrifice my children’s future” by sending them to public school in Beverly Hills.

Political strategist Darry Sragow said that for elected officials who are parents, “there’s no perfect answer. If you go private, you may take a hit. If you go public, you may feel you’re not doing what’s best for your child.”

Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles) is living the dilemma. He is married to a public school teacher and has two children in the neighborhood elementary school, a high-performing public school. But with middle school not far off, he and his wife are contemplating private school.

“As a parent, no matter how passionate you are about public schools, in the final analysis you’re going to do what’s best for your children,” said Villaraigosa, a candidate for mayor of Los Angeles and a product of public and Catholic schools.

State Sen. Ray Haynes (R-Riverside) could not agree more. He is one of 12 legislators whose children attend private schools--most of them church-affiliated--and is also a member of the Senate education committee. Haynes said he would rather not pay tuition for Christian school but has no confidence in the public system.

“As long as I’ve got a dollar in my pocket, I’m going to get the best for my kids,” he said, even if “I’ve got to drive a 1974 Dodge Dart.”

Assemblyman Steve Baldwin (R-El Cajon) said his three children’s success in private school has made him increasingly wary of increasing spending for public schools. Baldwin says that his children’s Christian school produces superior academic results--in reading, for example--while spending far less on its students than the public system does.

“The [public school] bureaucracy is so big and there are so many different levels, that by the time the money trickles into the classroom, it’s far less than what you started with,” Baldwin said.

Legislators with children in the public system typically send them to schools ranked slightly above average, as measured by the new Academic Performance Index, the Times survey showed. The index, aimed at assessing school performance and progress, is based for now solely on the Stanford 9 basic skills test administered last spring.

While some legislators’ children attend schools with scores near the top of the performance scale, several have children in schools ranked well below average. Los Angeles Assemblyman Carl Washington’s daughter attends a high school with a ranking of 465--considerably below the statewide high school average of 620. But he has faith in the program.

“Public education worked for me, and I believe it will work for her,” said Washington (D-Paramount). He added that his time in the public system has persuaded him that class size reduction is failing in many parts of Los Angeles, a conclusion he reached after seeing classes meet in auditoriums for lack of proper facilities.

Lack of Contact With Schools

Fuller of UC Berkeley said that sort of exposure adds a vital dose of realism to the isolated Capitol committee rooms where crucial education policy decisions are made. Without it, he said, legislators may have a harder time “separating the wheat from the chaff. . . .”

The small number of legislators with children is the more significant, some analysts say, because of the virtual absence in the Capitol of parents commenting on legislation and lobbying legislators. During the governor’s nine-week special session on education last year, not a single parent testified, although compelling issues such as a do-or-die graduation test were on the table.

“It’s a problem, and I think the reason is that most parents of school-age kids don’t have an extra minute,” said Tamara Powers of Rolling Hills, a mother of two. Given the mute voice of parents in Sacramento, “I would hope that legislators without school-age children make an extra effort to understand the frustrations of families and teachers.”

State Sen. Deborah Ortiz (D-Sacramento), a member of the Senate education committee, says she does just that, spending a lot of time in the classrooms of her Sacramento district. And while Ortiz has no children, she insists it’s no disadvantage.

“I think we all bring different experience” to the education debate, said Ortiz. “That’s the beauty of the Legislature.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

A Schooling Study

Few state lawmakers have children in school.

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STATEWIDE ELECTED OFFICIALS

Four of eight have children in school.

Gov. Gray Davis: no children

Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante: 1 in public school, 2 grown

Controller Kathleen Connell: 1 in public, 1 in private school

Treasurer Phil Angelides: 2 in private school, 1 grown

Supt. of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin: no children

Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer: 1 grown

Secretary of State Bill Jones: 2 grown

Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush: 2 in public school

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Academic Standings

The Academic Performance Index is designed to gauge school progress and measure academic performance. Every school is given a score from 200 to 1,000, with 800 being the state’s academic target. Schools’ scores are then ranked statewide from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest.

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State average: 627

Average for schools attended by legislators’ children: 676

Highest API score: 906

Lowest API score: 436

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Percentage of children in private school:

California: 10%

Legislature: 34%

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Here are the rankings for schools lawmakers’ children attend:

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SENATE

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Public school API (State rank) Chesbro, Wesley* D-Arcata 818 (10) Dunn, Joseph* D-Santa Ana 677 (7) O’Connell, Jack* D-San Luis Obispo 817 (10) Peace, Steve D-El Cajon 710 (8) Speier, Jackie D-Daly City 897 (10)

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Private school

Haynes, Raymond*: R-Riverside

Polanco, Richard: D-Los Angeles *

ASSEMBLY

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Public school API (State rank) Ashburn, Roy* R-Bakersfield 609 (5) Battin, Jim R-La Quinta 677 (7) Bock, Audie I-Piedmont 906 (10) Briggs, Mike R-Fresno 831 (10) Calderon, Thomas* D-Montebello 528 (3) Cardenas, Tony D-Sylmar 436 (1) Cardoza, Dennis D-Merced 687 (7) Correa, Lou* D-Anaheim 438 (1) Florez, Dean D-Shafter 479 (2) Machado, Mike D-Linden 565 (4) Olberg, Keith R-Victorville N/A Oller, Rico R-San Andreas 723 (9) Pacheco, Rod R-Riverside 747 (9) Steinberg, Darrell D-Sacramento 790 (9) Thompson, Bruce R-Fallbrook 651 (7) Torlakson, Tom D-Antioch 610 (5) Villaraigosa, Antonio D-Los Angeles 811 (9) Washington, Carl* D-Paramount 465 (1)

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Private school

Baldwin, Steve*: R-El Cajon

Corbett, Ellen: D-San Leandro

Firebaugh, Marco: D-E Los Angeles

Hertzberg, Robert: D-Sherman Oaks

Jackson, Hannah-Beth: D-Santa Barbara

Knox, Wally: D-Los Angeles

Maddox, Ken: R-Garden Grove

Maldonado, Abel: R-Santa Maria

Runner, George: R-Lancaster

Wesson, Herb: D-Culver City

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WOULD NOT PARTICIPATE

Rod Wright: D-Los Angeles

McClintock, Tom: R-Northridge

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PRESCHOOL OR GROWN CHILDREN

Senate: Richard Alarcon* (D-Sylmar), Dede Alpert* (D-Coronado), Debra Bowen (D-Marina del Rey), John Burton (D-San Francisco), Martha Escutia (D-Whittier), Liz Figueroa (D-Fremont), Tom Hayden* (D-Los Angeles), Teresa Hughes* (D-Inglewood), Maurice Johannessen (R-Redding), Ross Johnson (R-Irvine), Patrick Johnston (D-Stockton), Betty Karnette (D-Long Beach), David Kelley (R-Idyllwild), William “Pete” Knight* (R-Palmdale), Tim Leslie (R-Tahoe City), John Lewis (R-Orange), Bruce McPherson* (R-Santa Cruz), Dick Monteith* (R-Modesto), Bill Morrow (R-Oceanside), Richard Mountjoy (R-Arcadia), Don Perata (D-Alameda), Charles Poochigian (R-Fresno), Richard Rainey (R-Walnut Creek), Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), Byron Sher* (D-Stanford), Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley)

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Assembly: Sam Aanestad (R-Grass Valley), Dick Ackerman (R-Fullerton), Elaine Alquist* (D-Santa Clara), Dion Aroner (D-Berkeley), Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel), Marilyn Brewer (R-Newport Beach), Bill Campbell* (R-Villa Park), Dennis Cardoza (D-Merced), Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), Dave Cox (R-Fair Oaks), Jim Cunneen* (R-San Jose), Susan Davis* (D-San Diego), Dick Dickerson (R-Redding), John Dutra (D-Fremont), Richard Floyd (D-Wilmington), Peter Frusetta (R-Tres Pinos), Brett Granlund (R-Yucaipa), Sally Havice (D-Cerritos), Mike Honda* (D-San Jose), George House (R-Hughson), Lynne Leach* (R-Walnut Creek), Ted Lempert (D-San Carlos), Bill Leonard (R-San Bernardino), John Longville (D-Rialto), Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), Bob Margett (R-Arcadia), Kerry Mazzoni* (D-San Rafael), George Nakano* (D-Torrance), Robert Pacheco* (R-Walnut), Lou Papan (D-Millbrae), Anthony Pescetti (R-Rancho Cordova), Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), Jack Scott* (D-Altadena), Nell Soto* (D-Pomona), Virginia Strom-Martin* (D-Duncans Mills), Edward Vincent (D-Inglewood), Scott Wildman* (D-Los Angeles), Charlene Zettel* (R-Poway)

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NO CHILDREN

Senate: James Brulte (R-Rancho Cucamonga), Jim Costa (D-Fresno), Kevin Murray (D-Culver City), Deborah Ortiz* (D-Sacramento), Hilda Solis (D-La Puente), John Vasconcellos* (D-Santa Clara)

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Assembly: Scott Baugh (R-Huntington Beach), Denise M. Ducheny (D-San Diego), Martin Gallegos (D-Baldwin Park), Howard Kaloogian (R-Encinitas), Fred Keeley (D-Boulder Creek), Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), Carole Migden (D-San Francisco), Sarah Reyes (D-Fresno), Kevin Shelley (D-San Francisco), Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks), Howard Wayne (D-San Diego), Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa)

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*serves on education committee