ISSUES IMPORTANT TO JINNY DALBECK:

By Virginia A. "Jinny" Dalbeck

It is important as an elected official that I do all I can to maximize taxpayer dollars for our community. I have been able to accomplish this by securing a $1 million matching grant from the state of California for a joint use library project that will benefit all taxpayers and all students who live within our school district boundaries. I have also secured a grant for $250,000 to be used to complete technology needs and furnish this library.

I chair the school district/city Joint Use Committee which works continually to combine tax dollars on such projects as improving the conditions of our athletic and play fields.

I also chair the 5 Star Coalition of School Districts which is comprised of La Canada, Glendale, South Pasadena, Pasadena, and Burbank. Through this group we have been able to provide combined support for staff development programs and curricular issues. By sharing the cost of the resources, districts were able to access experts in specific fields that single districts would not be able to afford.

BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS

I ahve worked diligently over the last five years to build partnerships with various groups and organizations to bring cutting edge information and opportunities into our school district. My travels back and forth from Sacramento have afforded me the opportunity to build many relationships with state legislators. It was these relationships that allowed me to secure the $1 million matching grant for the library project and the $250,000 grant from Assemblyman Jack Scott.

Both the Joint Use Committee between the city and the school district and the 5 Star Coalition of School Districts have enabled us to stretch our tax dollars to receive maximum benefit for our community.

DEFINING EDUCATION FOR OUR COMMUNITY

It is long overdue for our community to engage in the discussion of what we want education to be for our community. On October 27th, the K-12 Options Committee will meet to begin this important discussion. This is an opportunity for our community to decide, describe and discuss whether we want or need to open another school site, configuration of grade levels and the various sites, and class size. It is my opinion that there are too many children on the elementary sites right now and that it compromises the educational environment. I would also like to see class size reduced in grades 4-12 to a student teacher ratio of 25:1 (grades K-3 currently with the help of the state class size reduction program are at 20:1).

We in La Canada should not be satisfied with what the state of California defines as an educational program. Our community deserves and demands more, and this has to be a community issue. I look forward to being a part of this discussion.

LOCAL CONTROL

The discussion on defining education for our community is part of a broader issue, that of local control. We need to continually advocate for return of decision making on educational issues to a local level. A large segment of the monies provided to school districts from the state are restricted to use only for very specific purposes. Because of these restrictions, La Canada does not qualify for them, thus they go to other districts. I have lobbied state legislators in an attempt to get this type of legislation amended to be less restrictive and to be more inclusive of districts like our own.

MEASURE A - SCHOOL BOND

I strongly support Measure A. This bond will allow the school district to qualify for over $7 million in matching funds from the State of California. These are tax dollars we have already paid to the state and could come back here to La Canada. If we do not pass this bond, that $7 million plus will simply go to other school districts. By passing this $6 million bond our community will provide much needed dollars for modernization projects at all the school sites and the matching monies for the library project at the high school. I feel we have an obligation to provide the same quality of classrooms for all our students grades K-12. We need to finish the modernization of the current sites, which will always be used by the district, especially the high school, before we take on other projects.

SAGEBRUSH ISSUE

The Sagebrush Issue is currently tied up in litigation between the Glendale Unified School District, the State Board of Education, and the Sagebrush litigants. La Canada Unified School District is not a part of this litigation. I am not opposed to allowing the western area of our city to become a part of the school district. In fact, I went to Sacramento in 1991 to testify on behalf of the Sagebrush committee before the State Board of Education. My concern is that when and if such a transfer should take place that it be accomplished with the least disruption of the educational programs of the students and schools involved.