Questions
1. California ranks among the top states in per capita expenditures on a number of government programs (i.e. corrections, law enforcement, general government), but just near or below the national average on expenditures for kids’ programs, including education and Medi-Cal. What are your thoughts on this prioritization of expenditures and what, if any, changes would you make in this regard?
California’s failing public schools and embarrassing educational standards is no fault of a lack of funding. When combined with state and federal funds, there is an excess of $20,000 to spend on each child each year.
The result of our failing schools is a lack of competition. If a business knew their customer base couldn’t shop anywhere else, would they be motivated to deliver the best possible product? No.
So why do we expect our schools to deliver the best possible product for our children when our children are locked in school districts?
Universal School Access, or more commonly known as School Choice is the answer.
USA (Universal School Access) will equip the parents with the financial means by using existing funds to be put towards and educational institution which best fits the child’s needs.
2. California assumes responsibility for abused and neglected children when we remove them from their homes. Therefore, the State is legally obligated to ensure that children and youth in foster care receive vital services and supports to meet their unique needs and find safety, stability and success. How would you strengthen the child welfare system?
Strengthening the child welfare system is like putting a bandaid on a gushing wound. The long answer is to work to get to the point where we do not need a child welfare system, or at the very least, a government-managed child welfare system.
But until we get to that point, we can embolden our child welfare program with more funding, by diverting funds from failing projects such as the high speed railway to nowhere that has cost the tax payers billions and billions and billions of dollars, for literally nothing. Ideally a project like that would not have even been started and the money wouldn’t have been wasted, yet here we are.
California is also currently sitting on a near, if not greater than one hundred BILLION dollar surplus. What are we doing with that money? I can tell you it is not going to be spent on the issues the people care most about because it is clear that crime is rising, homelessness crisis is getting worse, gas prices are out of control despite the Democratic Party having dominant control of California for nearly three decades.
The long answer is for us to get to the point where we no longer need a government run, child welfare system. Children are best served when a parent raises them. Unfortunately, due to reckless government spending from corrupt politicians who many of which belong in jail, our dollar has been devalued so much so, that it is nearly impossible these days to raise a household off one income.
Life is getting harder and harder for all Americans, regardless of who we vote for and we are still somehow stuck in this two-party matrix, thinking the answer to all our problems is a politician and government, when in reality the politicians and our government created all the problems we face today and all the problems that make our lives harder and harder.
We must rebuild the family unit and give parents the resources they need. We must reintegrate personal responsibility into our society.
Vote accordingly this election cycle.
3. California ranks poorly in national reports for supporting families with infants and toddlers. The state does invest in programs like evidence-based home visiting – which provide guidance, offer coaching, and connect parents and caregivers to health and social services – but those only reach about 2% of families with young children. What strategies, if any, do you support to aid new and expectant parents and young children during this critical phase of life?
Same answer for question #2.
4. More than 2.75 million young children live in California, with the majority being income-eligible for child care assistance. Yet just a fraction of eligible children have access to subsidized child care spaces, due to insufficient funding for child care capacity. This gap is most pronounced for infants and toddlers, where child care subsidies served only 14% of eligible families (pre-pandemic). What is your position on this issue, and what, if anything, should be done to ensure that all families have access to high-quality child care?
Same answer for question #2.
5. The average salary of a California public employee is nearly $87,000, while the average salary of a California child care provider is $35,400, and most other professionals who work with kids are also below the public employee average. What are your ideas, if any, about responding to this disparity?
Same answer for question #2.
Rebuild the family unit. Stop corrupt, fraudulent and excessive government spending when weakens our dollar and get our society back to the point where one parent can sustain a household while the other raises the children.
6. The latest available data shows California ranks 49th among the 50 states in teacher-to-student ratio, 47th in school counselors, and 46th in school administrators. We also rank near the bottom in terms of school nurses, with approximately one nurse for every 2,400 students and no nurses at all in some smaller counties. What are your thoughts on these rankings, and what, if anything, should be done in response?
Same answer as #1.
7. California has the highest percentage of kids who are dual language learners, ages 0-5, (60%) and school-age English Learners (21%) in the country. How should the State support these students’ bilingual/multilingual potential? What are your thoughts on how educators in early education and TK-12 can be prepared to assist these students to meet their language development needs?
Same answer as #1.
8. Over the past 40 years, state spending on higher education has dropped from 18% to 12% of the state budget. What is your position on funding for public higher education?
Tax dollars should only go to fund higher education for fields that are in demand, or projected to be in demand in the future. For example, mental health experts are high in demand and people with majors in gender studies will never, ever in the history of mankind ever be in demand.
We must not look at “”funding higher education”” as a blanket statement.
9. Over 55% of California’s kids are enrolled in Medi-Cal, but California performs near the bottom amongst all state Medicaid programs when it comes to children’s access to primary care physicians and important childhood screenings, especially for children of color. In addition, many California children lack access to oral health care, vision services, hearing aids, and mental health and substance abuse supports and services. What would you do, if anything, to increase access to these services?
Fire the entire Democratic Party. They have had dominant control of California for nearly three decades and everything is getting worse. If you are in favor of things continuing to get worse, vote Democrat. Bring fathers back to the home.
10. The suicide rate among Black youth has dramatically increased in recent years. In addition, Major Depressive Episodes (MDE) among youth have grown, but only about one third of youth with an MDE received treatment. What should be done to ensure that more children receive needed mental health supports and services?
Bring fathers back to the home.