REFORM EDUCATION

The Lieutenant Governor serves as a voting member of the Board of Regents of the University of California, the Board of Trustees of the California State University system, and the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges system.

This puts him in a powerful position to influence what is being taught, how public education is being managed, costs to students, and the ability to identify government fraud and waste at our colleges.

David Fennell began his California public school education in preschool in 1974 later graduating from Half Moon Bay High public school in 1986. Continuing his education at two top California Universities earning his Bachelor of Science in Commerce from the Leavey School of Business at Silicon Valley based Santa Clara University in 1991 and later earning his Masters Degree at the University of San Francisco in 1996. His wife Na Fennell earned her Bachelor of Science in Biotechnology from the University of California, Davis in 2000.

Having spent his life in California and living and working in Silicon Valley he has seen the best and the worst of education in California.

The University of California is one of the largest and greatest public University systems in the world and has historically produced famous tech leaders such as Steve Wozniak of Apple Computer, filmmakers such as Francis Ford Coppola, and numerous Nobel Prize Winners.

Yet, we now see stories in the paper of attacks against students at UC Berkeley for their political views and threats by politicians to set limits on the number of Asians admitted to UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Merced, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz and UCSF School of Medicine.

David Fennell does not care about the race of his doctor he wants the smartest, best educated and best trained.

This is why unlike his opponents he publicly stated his oppositions to California Proposition 16, “Repeal Proposition 209 Affirmative Action Amendment” (2020) which would have limited Asian students’ access to college over less qualified students. A "yes" vote supported a constitutional amendment to repeal Proposition 209 (1996), which stated that the government and public institutions cannot discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to persons on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public employment, public education, and public contracting.

Thankfully the voters sided with David Fennell and the law was defeated.

However, there is still a very active effort to promote “soft” racial quotas at California’s public & private universities which Fennell actively opposes.

The University of California was exposed by auditors to having a secret $175 million slush fund and there are numerous stories of waste as well as a disconnect between what is being taught in schools and the job market of the future.

Parents are upset not only about what is and is not being taught in schools but that the price of student education does not match the quality.

We see Starbucks employees with graduate degrees and no hope of job prospects due not only to a downturn in the economy but because there are no jobs for the subjects they studied while employers are asking for new H-1B visa workers. (There is also corruption in the H1-B Visa system where jobs that should be going to California’s citizens are going to imported overseas workers. David Fennell would stop this.)

In addition to sitting on the board for University of California and the California State University Systems the Lieutenant Governor also is on the Board of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges which includes 115 accredited colleges and is the largest system of higher education in the United States, and third largest system of higher education in the world, serving more than 2.1 million students.

Our California Community College system can be an important and economic way for students to earn credit for required classes before transferring to a UC school.

David Fennell’s own intern came to him asking whether she should go to the dream college she was accepted to because her parents would have a hard time paying for both of her and her sister’s tuition at their dream colleges. David Fennell advised her to go to community college first and get all the core requirements out of the way cheaply and then transfer. She took his advice and later transferred to UC Santa Barbara and took only 3 years to get what would normally be a four year degree and had very little debt. After graduating she was hired for a job she loves.

The California college dream can still be attained but students and parents need to look at costs and alternatives. The debt of college can ruin lives. Government leaders need to provide more alternatives.

Finally, it needs to be remembered that not every great job needs a college degree and not every high school student should go to college. David Fennell went to public Half Moon Bay High School and though he went into Tech like his parents, most of his fellow students in his fishing and farming community did not go to college yet many are making better salaries than his alumni friends who went to college.

Trade schools and on the job training such as internships and apprenticeships can often provide a better path to the American Dream.

However, whether you went to college or not as a Californian you want a Lieutenant Governor with the educational background to sit on the UC Board (some of my opponents never went to college or took the SAT).

Finally, you want our public education systems to be fair and open to all students where the best student gets admitted and the education matches the future job markets.

David Fennell began his California education as a preschooler 48 years ago and he will work to ensure California’s education system will remain the best in the world training the future leaders of our great state.