CBS moved to a prerecorded segment about education and teachers — including a social science high school teacher who said stagnant salaries amid rising costs was a major concern, and another teacher who worried about budget cuts impacting students’ performance and health.
Moderators pointed out high spending on education in California, but low outcomes.
Antonio Villaraigosa said he led an initiative to reduce class sizes as a state legislator, and turned around failing schools in L.A. as mayor.
“We got to focus on literacy,” he said. “I’ve got a record of turning around schools.”
Katie Porter said the impacts on education from the COVID pandemic fell most heavily on low-income families, and the state should focus on key benchmarks that indicate student performance — including reading fluently by age 7 or 8, and the jump from Algebra 1 to Algebra 2. She also said she would focus on student mental health, another barrier to performance.
Chad Bianco said California’s school system needs to be “completely revamped from the top down,” with cuts to administration and more money for classroom teachers.
Xavier Becerra was asked about how he would balance the “the influence of the teachers unions” with demands for more accountability at a time when declining enrollment has led to school district financial instability, layoffs and school shutdowns.
“We should not let anyone, whether it’s a union or whether it’s administrator, get in the way of accountability,” he said.
The state, he said, will make sure that people are held accountable for getting kids ready for success.
“We have to start much earlier,” he said, including by ensuring people have access to early childhood education.
Tom Steyer said “great teachers” are who get kids to learn, but it’s hard to recruit teachers because California doesn’t pay enough. He said he will close tax loopholes for corporations and pay teachers more.
Steve Hilton said California needs to make it easier for working-class residents to get into state universities. He said Democrats are responsible for students’ poor reading and math performance across the state, and a new path must be charted.
“We need to hold teachers accountable, but also make sure that we reform the pensions,” he said, saying too much of teachers’ salaries are going into the pension system.
Matt Mahan, a former teacher, was asked about AI in the education sphere, said he has regulated the technology to “ethically and responsibly” move forward. But he said AI and computers shouldn’t be overused in classrooms, and that teachers are who educate children.
“We need the governor to be accountable for education outcomes,” he said — including by moving the state education department under the governor.