Photograph by Sarah Gaffney

Talking Points: Jim Cunneen discussed issues in an intimate meeting with Willow Glen constituents on Saturday.




Assemblyman discusses education with Glenites

By Sarah Gaffney

"I have a reputation for starting and ending my meetings on time, so let's get started," says Assembly member Jim Cunneen at the third of five back-to-back town hall meetings he hosted last Saturday in his 24th district.

It's 1:30 on the dot on a cold and overcast spring afternoon. The Republican lawmaker speaks in front of a small group--seven constituents showed up--at the Willow Glen High library. But the intimate group and dreary weather do not dampen Cunneen's passion for talking about his work in Sacramento.

"Every time I hold one of these meetings it seems like there's always somebody in the audience more informed than I am on a particular issue," Cunneen begins. The issues on the minds of the members of this well-informed audience primarily concerned public education reform. It is an issue the three-term legislator is very familiar with. In fact, Cunneen, whose mother was a public school teacher in Palo Alto, sits on the state committee for education, and co-authored a reading reform initiative that was recently signed into law.

"The most important thing we can do to reform California public education is to make sure that fundamental skills, the reading skills, are proficient," Cunneen says. "Reading is the fundamental skill for all other learning. Let's get kids off to an early, confident, comfortable start in education and it will have value later on."

Cunneen was the only Republican that Gov. Davis asked to sponsor the reading initiative. The new law creates an intensive reading program for grades K-4, summer training of up to 6,000 beginning teachers to teach reading, the Governor's Reading Awards Program for grades K-8, and the Governor's Teacher Scholars Program to encourage qualified students to become teachers.

For the state's older students, the topic turned to common course numbering between the state's community college classes and university courses. Ken Yeager, San Jose State professor and member of the Evergreen Community College Board, was among the audience members who voiced a need for common course numbering to be mandated by California state law.

"There's no reason why there can't be standardized numbering for these courses," says the university educator. "It really penalizes the student. You see students all the time who have to take classes all over again. It would be one less frustration for these students to have to go through to get through the maze of education."

Cunneen also discussed AB 81, a bill in his education reform platform that addresses the need for more math and science teachers.

"We have a real shortage of math and science teachers in California," says the education proponent. AB 81 would allow retired math and science teachers to return to the classrooms without jeopardizing their retirement. The proposed law would also provide corporations with tax incentives to allow employees to teach math and science in California schools.

The topic quickly jumped from school to drugs and Cunneen's stand on the medical use of marijuana.

"I supported the bill but opposed the initiative," Cunneen says. "It wasn't tightly written. Anyone who has had a relative or friend and has been with them during their last days of pain and nausea, I think they'd support the medical use of marijuana. I think it's compassion."

One constituent asks Cunneen about his stand on legalizing marijuana. "It's going to require some very innovative thinking and for Democrats and Republicans to put away some very ideological thinking," Cunneen replies, not missing a beat.

As the sun comes out and the room fills up, the politician brings his meeting to a close. "I started on time and I'm ending on time," he says.

It's 2:30 on the dot.

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