Q&A with Assemblywoman Jean Fuller
Q&A with Assemblywoman Jean Fuller
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Posted by editor Tue May 29, 2007 10:50:27 PDT
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0 responses 0 comments Q: You have extensive background as an educator and school district superintendent and you’ve introduced several pieces of education-based legislation this year. Which is harder, “laying down the law” as a district superintendent; or being a freshman assembly member seeking political support for your proposed legislation?
A: They’re just different. The similarities are that they both require a tremendous amount of juggling and a tremendous amount of demand on your time. In my last superintendent position I oversaw 28,000 students and 3,500 employees. There’s just more pressure on a day-to-day basis. In the assembly the demand to be diplomatic is stronger, but it’s the same combination of responsibility to constituents and problem solving, in order to help people. You are operating at a very large bureaucracy and the emphasis is on diplomatic skill. That’s a great question. It’s an equal challenge, it’s just different in the tools that you use.
Q: After releasing the Superintendent of the Tehachapi Unified School District from the remainder of her contract early this spring, the board is currently searching for a replacement. They are also attempting to balance budget concerns related to the subsequent payoff [of Dr. Marian Stephens] and the search expense with an apparent growing rift between the old guard and those members elected in November.
In your opinion, what one function or outcome should the TUSD board unanimously agree on, as it relates to the selection of a new superintendent?
A: They should hire an outside facilitator to do a goals and vision statement they can all agree upon so they have a unified focus as they look for a new person. That person then has a chance to start on an area that there has been some consensus.
Everybody has specialties and the more defined they are, the better chance of a match, because in the long run, you can’t afford another buy out in the future. Plus there’s a real shortage of experienced superintendents in the state.
Q: Is it important that a candidate for TUSD’s superintendent be from California?
A: It’s definitely better if they’re from California. That’s not to say that there aren’t some really good people out there in other states. And some have left and come back. California tends to be the leader in education innovation. People that are coming here from the East Coast have a pretty different environment and tend to have to catch up.
Q: Is it important they have experience with a small district or town?
A: There are probably more small district superintendents available in California; somewhere between half and a third of the school districts are smaller districts so you’re actually more likely to find someone with that background.
Q: You’ve also been active in recent prison reform legislation, which according to Mayor Ed Grimes, will ultimately bring more jobs into the area. Which do you believe California’s legislators are likely to approve, technical and vocational training in high schools or prisons and will one preclude the other?
A: We’ve already got an initial prison deal that answers part of that question and it was so hard to get. We’ve basically approved 53,000 more beds [for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation].
The first phase is to augment sites that have land already and can ad on. The second phase will focus on training and recruitment to stock those prisons with health and counseling professionals as those are the areas with shortages, as well as doctors and nurses. But the problem with overcrowding is that the prisons don’t currently have room for those programs. So, we want to get a pipeline going in the community colleges for nursing training programs. We need the full complement of beds as well as the services.
Q: Do you support recent proposals to establish a technical college in East Kern and if so, what stage is that project at currently? How many generations of local graduates will be tossing their caps in the air before we realistically see it come to fruition?
A: Yes, I’m very supportive of it, it’s a great idea. At best, it’s a 10-year project, but it could be longer. One essential component that is going to make or break it is how well all the surrounding communities can collaborate. The UC and CSU system will ultimately select the site, not the community. Ultimately, there will have to be some negotiations as to what kinds of programs are put there. An example is right now, they’re not likely to establish an engineering school since there are empty engineering seats up and down the state that they can’t get students to apply for. The university system is not likely to add those types of programs. A Cal Poly, more technical approach is a stronger approach.
The university has lots of offers for free land — that’s not the problem. Construction and long term maintenance is. There are lots of people willing to give land because it makes the surrounding land very valuable. Everybody would love to have a college in their backyard. There’s tremendous competition. You need a good ratio of students to make a program operable.
It’s a very do-able project and I commend everybody for working on it now. If not now, they will never get it. It’s a lot of work now, but everyone has to realize there are many entities involved in this and it takes long-term, sustained, willingness to meet all the stakeholders’ needs.
Q: What role can rural communities and those who live there play in state and national politics?
A: Actually they have a very strong role to first to support their city council members as lobbying for manager representation in Sacramento is very important. Tehachapi is lucky to have people like Ed Grimes and Linda Vernon on their board, who make a real effort to get to know their legislators on all levels, so that when there is a crisis, we’ve already worked through a trusting relationship. I know Ed and Linda personally. They’re good people and I know what they ask me for will be rational and in keeping with community needs. I know there’s a direct connection back to the community they serve.
Second is for those items of interest to them, particularly on a state level, they can write or call my district office. All the letters I get are put in a binder for me so when an item comes up for vote I turn to that section and I see what people have said and who’s said it. It makes a difference in how I vote. There are recommendations from the republican party on how to vote, but if I have enough constituent’s letters, I vote the way the constituents inform me. If nobody ever tells me, the less likely I am able to meet their needs. I may disagree at times, but at least I’m informed.
They can also read their local newspapers to keep up with things that may affect them. It’s hard these days, with so many things coming at us. It takes time and a lot of work, but there are some real active people in the community making that effort, and it shows.
A Kern County native
A Kern County native, Fuller also said she loves to stop in Tehachapi as often as possible to visit family members who live in area. She often enjoys having lunch and shopping in the area as she travels between her husband’s family ranch in the Lancaster area and their home in Rio Bravo.
“It’s just handier than going into Bakersfield to shop. I’m pretty attached to Tehachapi,” Fuller said.
Contact info for Assembly Representative Jean Fuller-R, Bakersfield
Assemblymember Jean Fuller represents Assembly District 32; Serving Bakersfield, Ridgecrest, Tehachapi, Taft, Frazier Mountain communities and the Kern River Valley.
Bakersfield District Office
4900 California Ave.
Suite 100 - B
Bakersfield, CA 93309
Phone: (661) 395-2995
Fax: (661) 395-3883
Capitol Office
State Capitol
Room 3098
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: (916) 319-2032
Fax: (916) 319-2132
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