Very different candidates

Voters will have two very different options when choosing the next California Superintendent of Public Instruction – even though both are Democrats. One is a reformist known for wanting to shake the education establishment. The other one, the incumbent, thinks that better school learning demands more investment, while keeping the system as it is.

Superintendent Tom Torlakson supports Governor Brown’s plan to providing local funding flexibility, and led the effort to invest $1,250 millions in books, advanced technology and teachers. Torlakson has helped ease school districts’ financial woes, and has contributed to an increase in graduation rates.

His rival Marshall Tuck led the Partnership for L.A. Schools, created by former mayor Antonio Villarraigosa. Tuck managed 17 schools considered problematic in the Los Angeles Unified School District. His substantial success at managing 99th Street Elementary School, and secondary schools Jordan and Roosevelt, earned him support from parents and reformists.

The lawsuit “Vergara v. California” – which questions the current system of favoring seniority and the current layoffs process – put Torlakson and Tuck in opposing sides. The superintendent defends the system. Tuck wants to change it, arguing that it puts students of poorer schools at disadvantage.

This reformist stance — as well as his demand that students’ performance is taken into account when evaluating teachers – won Tuck the support of a group of millionaires who vow to reform public education, be it through charter schools or other means to improve the students’ learning.

Torlakson, for his part, is supported by the Democratic establishment, led by the teacher union, which feel threatened by such decisions as the Vergara case.

Torlakson has not committed serious mistakes, and his administration has kept the status quo intact. Tuck thinks this is the time to make significant changes, and has worked well with the union during his previous tenure at Green Dot.

Our schools’ problems deserve bold and innovative solutions, and more parent participation. We believe that the substantial changes needed to fix the K-12 system are more in line with Tuck’s ideas than with Torlakson’ continuity