Peter Camejo on Education

2004 former Reform Party nominee for Vice President; previously Candidate for CA Governor

Privatization is hidden agenda of high school testing

Q: The implementation of the high school exit exam was postponed for 3 years because of the disparities in access to good education would have made for a high failing rate for African-American and Latino students. Will you get rid of the requirement?

CAMEJO: I think so. I'm nervous about the mania we have now on testing. The problems are often blamed on the teachers. The teachers cannot solve social problems from society as a whole. We have to have a holistic approach to judging the work they are doing. Where I think this is going, with all of the testing, is to say that public education is not working and we'll privatize. The testing mania is hurting us in the way that the teachers have to teach. We have to fight this. There is a hidden agenda behind the mania for testing everyone to use that goal as a criteria, instead of a holistic criteria.

Source: Recall debate in Walnut Creek Sep 3, 2003

Use a holistic approach instead of high school testing

Q: Without a high school exit exam, how would you measure that the students are really getting a education?

CAMEJO: I believe that that is complex. I think that you have to look at a school by school situation. The language issues, all of these different issues necessary for making judgments. We have to have a holistic approach. We are making headway. But we still have a long way to go. Testing is not the way we're really going to judge it in the end.

Source: Recall debate in Walnut Creek Sep 3, 2003

Davis appropriately increasing education spending

CAMEJO: We are making advances in California on education. And even though I've been extremely critical of governor Gray Davis, he did put more money into education, you know? We are making an effort. We are making headway.

HUFFINGTON: I have to disagree here with praising Gray Davis. The governor is continuing to fight a class action suit brought by the ACLU to represent underprivileged students in the state. Our governor is spending $18 million of our money fighting that lawsuit.

Source: Recall debate in Walnut Creek Sep 3, 2003

Pay teachers more than prison guards

Q: Is sub-par education in big-city public schools institutionalized racism or just a sad coincidence?

A: The educational system really can turn into institutionalized racism because of the heavy concentration of African Americans and Latinos. The solution is to reclaim a place to have equal funding. One thing is that teachers should get increase pay. They should get more than what prison guards get. I would try to shift the money out of the education bureaucracy and to the front lines.

Source: Eastern Groups Publications, CA Gov. Q&A, with Raul Vasquez Nov 2, 2002

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