Governor Schwarzenegger Discusses Education Budget in Weekly Radio Address

Governor Schwarzenegger Discusses Education Budget in Weekly Radio Address

Below is a transcript of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's weekly radio address.

Governor Schwarzenegger

Hi, this is Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger with another California Report.

This week I am very happy to talk to you about some of the fantastic news for education in our state.

On Monday, I signed a bipartisan budget for the coming year that puts our children first and takes our commitment to education beyond what we have ever done before.

Working with schools to help kids has always been a great joy to me. For years, I have organized and supported after-school programs that have helped thousands of our children.

And now as governor, I know that nothing is more important than providing the best education possible for every child.

That is why I am so proud that our new budget stands so strongly on the side of parents, teachers and students. We are putting more money into education than ever in our history. We increase education spending by $3 billion this year, $50 billion total.

That is almost half of our entire state budget.

With this money we are going to buy more textbooks, hire more teachers, make schools cleaner and safer, put more fruits and vegetables in our school meals and do everything that it takes to raise student performance and create a healthy school environment for our kids.

This is fantastic because as I've always said, the children are our future and they should have first call on the treasury.

But if we just spend more money and say the job is done, we are shortchanging our kids.

That is why my education budget also provides funding for new initiatives designed to support students and recognize excellent teachers.

We will provide more funds to help students develop the skills they need to pass the High School Exit Exam so that more kids can graduate and are ready to go to college or enter the job market.

And because the quality of education depends so much on great teachers and school principals, we are offering recognition pay for those who are in our lowest-performing schools.

What does that mean for California?

It means that the kids that are struggling in school can get some of the best and most experienced teachers.

It means schools that need greater leadership can get some of the best and most dynamic principals.

And we are telling every child in the state that it doesn't matter where you come from; what matters is where you're going.

Education spending and innovation are the right investment for California's future because the California of tomorrow will be shaped by what we teach in classrooms today.

Thank you for listening.

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