"I grew up the hard way. I learned what powerlessness did to people.
My father taught me that 'knowledge is power.' From that lesson, I decided I would become an educator.
In college, I supported the United Farm Workers of America and, following graduation, I met Cesar Chavez. He talked about how wrong it was for people to rely on the government. His lifelong belief in self-reliance and empowerment is embodied in his famous slogan: 'Se, se puede.' Yes, we can.
I am authoring Senate Bill 742, simple education reform legislation based on the principles of 'Knowledge is power' and 'Si, se puede.'
SB 742 would require the state superintendent of public instruction and the Board of Education to identify just 10 of the almost 1,000 historically lowest-performing public schools in California, including at least three comprehensive high schools with high dropout rates. It would also require the local school district and the community to develop a major restructuring plan to turn around the school.
Basically, I want to expose the secret names of the secret people who have failed for years — some as many as an entire decade — at running our chronically low-performing schools. I think it's long overdue to put names on the failed report cards of those responsible."
