Joan Buchanan
Assemblymember Joan Buchanan, a Democrat from Contra Costa County who served on the board of the San Ramon Valley Unified School District for nearly two decades, will run the Assembly Education Committee, as of tomorrow. Assuming she wins re-election to a third term in November, she’ll chair the committee when the Legislature returns in January.
Buchanan will replace Julia Brownley, a Santa Monica Democrat who’s in a tight race for Congress. Assembly Speaker John Perez announced changes in Assemby leadership and committee chairs yesterday.
A Democrat from Alamo with business experience, elected in a swing district, Buchanan has parted with her party on some business issues and has backed changes in public pensions opposed by organized labor. At the same time, she opposed SB 1530, which would have made it easier to fire teachers accused of serious misconduct. This year she authored AB 1772, which would mandate kindergarten, now optional for parents; since it would establish a new state mandate, it’s unlikely to pass. One bill that did