John Chiang Talks About Education, Children’s Issues Before Los Angeles Forum For Gubernatorial Candidates

John Chiang Talks About Education, Children’s Issues Before Los Angeles Forum for Gubernatorial Candidates

This article is a collaboration between LA School Report and The Chronicle of Social Change.

On Tuesday, May 15, the candidates vying to become California’s next governor will convene in Los Angeles to engage in a discussion regarding crucial issues affecting children and families, particularly educational equity.

At Los Angeles Trade Technical College, LA School Report and The Chronicle of Social Change will co-host a nonpartisan forum for the governor candidates, alongside the Children’s Defense Fund-California and the Children’s Partnership. To attend the free event and participate in the June 5 primary election, please register here.

In preparation for the forum, candidates were given a set of questions to answer. Here, we present the responses of John Chiang, who has served as California’s state treasurer since 2015.

Question: Medi-Cal provides health coverage for over half of California’s children. How will you ensure that children receive quality healthcare services, including preventive care, mental health services, and dental care?

Answer: I firmly believe that healthcare is a fundamental right for all individuals, not just a privilege for the wealthy. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, Californians have benefitted greatly, with millions of previously uninsured individuals, including nearly all our children, now having coverage through Medi-Cal. The expansion of Medi-Cal has been a game-changer, with one in three Californians receiving coverage from it. Additionally, the requirements for plans to cover preventive care, mental health services, and dental care for children have resulted in improved coverage and countless lives saved.

If elected governor, I will vigorously defend the Affordable Care Act and maintain funding for Medi-Cal. We cannot allow policies from Washington to potentially disrupt access to affordable health insurance. This is why I took a stand to support our community health clinics. Last year, I announced that the state would provide $20 million in emergency grants to health clinics in response to federal funding cuts from the Republican Congress. My stance has always been that we must preserve access to healthcare services in local communities.

Addressing California’s shortage of healthcare providers is among my highest priorities. We need to invest more in recruiting, training, and retaining healthcare professionals within our state. We should offer greater incentives for providers to offer care in underserved and rural communities, as well as increase the reimbursement rate for Medi-Cal, enabling more providers to offer care to lower-income and underserved populations.

Though the Affordable Care Act has significantly increased healthcare coverage, it remains unaffordable for many. Far too few people, particularly those in rural and underserved areas, have access to healthcare providers in their communities. Leveraging my track record of finding pragmatic solutions to our state’s most pressing challenges, I am deeply committed to finding a fiscally responsible path towards a universal healthcare system. However, I am not content with waiting for a new federal administration to grant approval for single payer. We must take action now to enhance healthcare in California.

Question: One in five California children lives in poverty. How will you work towards eradicating child poverty during your tenure as governor?

Answer: California currently has the highest homelessness rate and, when accounting for cost of living, the highest child poverty rate in the nation, affecting 20% of our kids. These statistics are even worse for people of color, with 30% of African-American or Latino children living in poverty.

It is imperative that California becomes a leader in reducing child poverty. We have both the opportunity and moral obligation to do so. As the next governor, I will implement the Lifting Children and Families Out of Poverty Act, which provides a framework for elevating one million children out of poverty. However, we must go further. I will make substantial investments in programs such as home visiting, after-school activities, summer school, free childcare, and universal pre-K. These initiatives will provide children with every opportunity to succeed and achieve the American Dream. Additionally, I strongly support school meal and summer food programs that address hunger and food security within our communities.

However, these measures alone are not sufficient. Due to the skyrocketing housing prices in California, too many families cannot afford adequate housing in their own communities. Ensuring an adequate supply of affordable housing is vital for maintaining diverse and accessible neighborhoods in the face of gentrification.

According to research, it is estimated that around 14 percent of children in California will be reported for potential maltreatment before they turn five years old. The question now is, what steps should the state take to prevent child abuse and neglect?

As a society, we need to step up and fulfill our role as good neighbors, taking care of one another. We have a moral obligation to ensure that every child grows up in a secure home, free from poverty, abuse, and neglect. If elected as governor, I will use all the resources available to me to protect our children and provide them with the opportunity to chase their dreams.

To achieve this, we must strengthen our social safety net so that every family is uplifted and every child has a safe environment to grow up in. This entails offering parent education programs and in-home visits to provide parents with the support, knowledge, and guidance they need to raise their children. Parents should have access to a support system before things escalate into abuse or neglect. Additionally, we must allocate the necessary resources to our foster care system, ensuring that children have a secure place to go if their parents or guardians are unable to care for them.

Quality and affordable healthcare, including mental health services, must be made accessible to all families. Mental health support can help parents cope with the challenges of life and prevent instances of abuse and neglect. As governor, I will fight to protect and expand the availability of mental health providers in local communities, ensuring that families have the resources they require.

Addressing the societal problems that contribute to neglect is crucial. Tackling issues such as poverty and affordable housing will enable every family to afford a comfortable standard of living. Moreover, we need to establish a high-quality and affordable childcare system that meets the needs of working families. We must also improve California’s early childhood education programs, both in terms of quantity and quality, and ensure that working families have free access to these programs.

Voters can have confidence in my commitment to advocating for our children and families, as this is an integral part of my record. I have consistently demonstrated strong leadership and integrity throughout my career, and I will continue to do so as governor.

The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) in California promised additional resources for students from low-income backgrounds, foster youth, and English-language learners, who tend to face persistent achievement gaps. In what ways would you enhance school accountability, transparency, and community engagement to better support the success of these vulnerable students?

I fully support the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), which provides additional funding to school districts based on the number of students with higher needs, including English-language learners, children from low-income families, and foster youth. However, I acknowledge the concerns regarding some school districts utilizing this extra funding for purposes unrelated to providing services for these students.

We must allocate more funding to schools to ensure that our students have the necessary resources, including highly qualified teachers, low teacher-to-student ratios, school nurses, arts, music, and more. This way, we can ensure that we are not redirecting funds that rightfully belong to our students. California has a genuine problem with education funding. Per-pupil spending in the state has plummeted to one of the lowest rates in the nation. While Proposition 98 was initially intended to establish a minimum level of education spending, it has now become a political constraint. Consequently, California is significantly underinvested in public education. Proposition 30, and its extension, have provided some relief, but the state still falls far behind the national average in per-pupil expenditures. We must prioritize investing more in education.

Furthermore, we need to ensure that school districts incorporate standards into their Local Control and Accountability Plans (LCAPs) that guarantee funds are used as intended. Transparency must be increased to hold these districts accountable for their financial utilization. As the only individual in California’s history to have served in all three elected financial offices, I possess the necessary experience and commitment to address our state’s budgetary challenges and find the funding required to invest in our education system.

Approximately one in six children in California has a parent who is an undocumented immigrant. What steps should California take to best support the health and well-being of children in immigrant families?

My parents immigrated to this country with almost nothing, driven by the dream of a better future for our family. My father arrived with only three shirts, two pairs of pants, and very little money in his pocket. Despite facing taunts and racial slurs, my family never lost faith in the American Dream, just like the millions of other immigrants who come to this country with the same belief.

California has long been at the forefront of the fight for immigrant rights in the nation.

The foremost battle we face is upholding the nation’s commitment to Dreamers, such as the young woman from UCLA who joined my staff as an intern during our campaign. After she graduated, we were fortunate enough to hire her. However, due to President Trump’s actions, Dreamers are once again trapped in a legal gray area. It is imperative for Congress to safeguard our DACA children and pass the Dream Act.

As the governor, I will fight for Congress to implement a lasting solution that addresses the flaws in our broken immigration system. Primarily, we need an immigration reform strategy that provides immigrants with a pathway to citizenship. We cannot condemn workers to a temporary status indefinitely. Many immigrants working in our country through guest worker visas find themselves bound to abusive employers, fearing visa revocation. It is crucial that immigrants have the right to report employer abuses and switch jobs without jeopardizing their visa status or facing deportation. We must take greater measures to rectify the system and prevent the perpetuation of a permanent marginalized class of immigrant workers.

A recent study in Los Angeles County revealed that 4 out of 5 young individuals involved with the probation system had a history of child abuse or neglect. What steps should the state take to address the widespread trauma experienced by young people who end up in the youth justice system, ensuring that they do not progress to the adult criminal justice system?

California has a duty to rectify a criminal justice system that perpetuates inequality. We must transform our system into one that is fair and just for all, focusing not only on retribution but also on rehabilitation. This is especially true for young individuals who find themselves in the youth justice system. As governor, I will engage all communities in an essential conversation to renew our commitment to social justice for every individual.

California must take additional action to prevent relapse into criminal behavior and expand access to rehabilitation programs for our youth. Addressing substance abuse and mental health issues among individuals is a critical concern. We must ensure that these individuals are not repeatedly committing the same offenses and that they receive the necessary treatment and support within the system. Additionally, we need to assist incarcerated young people in acquiring education and life skills so that they can successfully reintegrate into society without falling back into a life of crime.

Furthermore, we must guarantee that these young individuals, upon their reentry into society, continue to have access to services that provide them with a fighting chance. It is crucial to connect them and their families with vital health services, counseling, job opportunities, and housing options to prevent a return to criminal activities in order to survive.

As governor, I am committed to establishing a restorative justice system that prioritizes fairness, equality, prevention, and rehabilitation.

While California is home to numerous groundbreaking tech companies, the state is currently not doing enough to prepare students for careers in the rapidly expanding field of STEM. How will you work towards increasing equal access to STEM education and supporting children’s learning and development?

The California Dream was built on the strong foundation of high-quality, universally accessible public education. People flocked to California for its exceptional public schools. Investing in education yielded significant returns, fueling a thriving economy and improving living standards. We must exhaust all efforts to holistically enhance our education system, ensuring that every student has equal opportunities to pursue their dreams. It is evident that we face funding challenges, but we must also address the inequities that plague our education system and result in some students being left behind.

As governor, I will fight to provide all our students with rich and rigorous STEM education opportunities that they rightfully deserve, equipping them with the necessary skills for the jobs of tomorrow.

The elephant in the room is funding. California has allowed per-pupil spending to decline to some of the lowest rates in the country. As the only person who has held all three of our state’s elected financial positions, I can assure you that our state’s budget must reflect California’s values and priorities. We must be willing to invest in STEM opportunities for all students, irrespective of their ZIP codes.

When discussing investments in STEM education, it encompasses more than just technology devices and broadband internet. It also entails ensuring that every student has the opportunity to learn from highly trained STEM teachers who utilize technology to enrich the learning experience. We must intensify our efforts to address the growing shortage of teachers, particularly in STEM fields, through recruitment, financial incentives, and other means. Moreover, we must provide training and mentorship programs that enhance teaching performance and substantially increase retention rates.

To get comprehensive updates on the California governor’s race and other important education-focused races nationwide, stay tuned to our EDlection series at The74Million.org/Election. You can also stay informed by signing up for AM Newsletter to receive the latest EDlection updates directly to your inbox. Don’t miss out on stories like these – join Newsletter today.