[This press release was issued by Governor Davis’ office]

GOVERNOR DAVIS HITS 4 FOR 4 AS SCHOOL REFORM PACKAGE HEADS HOME

Legislative Victories Represent Great Strides on Road to Higher Expectations

SACRAMENTO - Governor Gray Davis today hailed the California Legislature for its swift passage of his education reform package. The Governor's January proclamation calling the legislature into special session allowed the four-bill package to move through with unprecedented speed.

"These bills are both strong and significant and move us a long way down the road to school reform," said Governor Davis. "Parents have demanded this. Children deserve it. I am very proud that the people here in Sacramento responded."

Providing more than $470 million for reform, the package establishes the first high school graduation exam in the history of California, the first statewide peer-review program in the nation and California's first statewide accountability program for schools. In conjunction with the Governor's budget, California will now invest over $180 million in elementary school reading programs to improve for the coming year.

"This is a historic day. The bills will produce results, schools will get better, people will have higher expectations," said Governor Davis. "I don't know if we've ever seen measures of this substance passed as quickly and with as much bipartisan support as most of these bills enjoyed."

The bills ultimately garnered strong bipartisan support from their houses of origin. The Governor's School Accountability bill, SB1X (Alpert) was approved today 30 to 6. The High School Exit Exam, SB2X (O'Connell) passed out of the Senate with a vote of 27 to 3. Yesterday the Assembly approved AB 1X (Villaraigosa), a bill to implement teacher peer review, 55 to 17. AB 2X (Mazzoni), the Governor's Reading Bill, passed 73 to zero.