POV: Education & The Next Governor

Los Angeles - FOX 11 Vice President and General Manager Kevin Hale asks the question: What are the California gubernatorial candidates' plans for education in our state?

You can watch the full video of the editorial in the media player... and share your comments on the topic below the editorial transcript.

Full Editorial Text:

In less than two weeks, Californians will elect a new governor.

Here's the problem: the biggest chunk of our state's budget-more than half-is spent on education. And after three debates and plenty of public appearances by both Brown & Whitman, do we know anything about where either of these candidates stand on public education?

I'm not sure we know enough.

Weeks have been wasted on scandals and name-calling. And I say, get back on track. Both candidates promised to make education a top campaign priority. Now do it.

We're spending billions on a K through 12 system that seems to be failing and our kids deserve better.

There have been fleeting moments in between attack ads.

In the last debate, Whitman said she wanted to create more charter schools and pay the best teachers more. In the same debate, Brown pointed out that he actually founded two charter schools in Oakland and wants to shift control from Sacramento to local districts.

Each say they have a plan, but I'm not sure that anyone is really clear on what that plan is or how it would be executed.

I urge both Brown & Whitman to return to the fundamentals of their campaign and publicly tell voters what they are specifically going to do to bring about positive changes in our public education system.

I for one would like to hear some specifics.

I want to know how they feel about teacher evaluations and tenure; are test scores the best way to measure student achievement; how do they plan to improve the drop-out rate; what are their thoughts on bi-lingual education; and how do they plan to manage the huge education budget.

I have sent a letter to both candidates inviting them to come on FOX 11 News and tell our viewers -- not in platitudes but in detail --  how they are going to fix public education.

I hope they take me up on this offer.

What do you think? We want to hear from you. Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

The views expressed are not necessarily those of the station or its employees.