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Ocean View district trustee in Oxnard heads state's School Boards Association
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Juan Carlo / Star staff "I found a place that I could be part of and make a difference," Paul Chatman said. He visits second-graders at Mar Vista School in Oxnard.
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Juan Carlo / Star staff Paul Chatman will lobby Congress and the Legislature for school reforms and funding that he hopes will help "create a system where every child has a chance to succeed."
SAN DIEGO — Days before the gavel passed into his oversized hands and he assumed the presidency of the California School Boards Association, ex-Marine Paul Chatman of Oxnard thought back to the fearful, black-dark nights he spent in foxholes in Vietnam.
In his 13 months of combat duty, he survived three ambushes and 15 mortar attacks and was awarded a Purple Heart.
"I knew a lot of guys who have their names on that Vietnam Wall. Their lives ended over there; they were 19, 20 years old," he said. "I had a lot of conversations with myself those nights in the foxholes. I told myself, When you get home, you owe it to yourself and to them to make a difference.'"
Chatman, 62, believes his chance to make good on that promise on a grand scale has arrived. For the next 12 months he will be a leading voice for public education in California and a high-profile advocate for children.
He took over the presidency Saturday at the close of the association's annual three-day conference, attended by more than 3,000 school board members and school district superintendents from across California.
In his new role, Chatman will lobby Congress and the Legislature, pushing for school reforms and increased funding that he hopes will help "create a system where every child has a chance to succeed. We don't have that now in California."
Tough negotiations ahead
For most of 2007, as the association's president-elect, Chatman was preparing to engage in what Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said would be "the year of education reform" in 2008. Now that the state economy has slowed and the governor is facing a budget shortfall of at least $10 billion, the year ahead could turn out to be one more of survival for the education community than one of bold change.
"The governor is kind of backing down on the idea because of the state budget," Chatman said. "You can't have reform unless it's going to cost money."
As president of the School Boards Association, Chatman will be among the leaders of a statewide Education Coalition that also includes representatives of the California Teachers Association, the Association of California School Administrators, the California Federation of Teachers and other groups.
Some tough negotiations between the coalition and Schwarzenegger likely lie ahead.
School Boards Association Executive Director Scott Plotkin said those discussions will give Chatman a chance to shine.
"Paul projects his passion," Plotkin said.
"He gives you a big, warm smile and a hearty handshake, and you feel like he really cares who you are. It's truly a gift. I think the governor appreciates people who have that kind of demeanor. I can't wait for the first time Paul interacts with him."
Former association president David Pollock of Moorpark said Schwarzenegger has learned he needs to work cooperatively with education leaders. When Pollock was president in 2004, he helped to negotiate a deal with the governor in which schools agreed to accept $2 billion less than they were entitled to under their constitutional funding guarantee.
Pollock then traveled the state to appear alongside Schwarzenegger in support of the deal.
The following year, Pollock said, Schwarzenegger reneged on his promise to pay schools back the funds they gave up the year before.
"We learned a hard lesson," Pollock said. "He considered us to be a backdrop at his press conferences and took us for granted."
The Education Coalition then led the campaign in 2005 to defeat Schwarzenegger's special-election initiatives, an experience that humbled the celebrity governor.
"He discovered that maybe we were more than just window-dressing," Pollock said. "He discovered he had to engage us in conversation."
Wants less state interference
Chatman said he supports some of the ideas Schwarzenegger is likely to propose, specifically, eliminating some categorical statewide programs and giving local school districts more autonomy over the operations of local schools.
"Sacramento needs to leave us alone," he said. "The state should set the bar high, let school districts make decisions for their children, hold us accountable for the results and then back off."
But, Chatman said, he believes there can be no honest attempt at reforming schools unless it is accompanied with a substantial increase in school funding. He said Proposition 98, the voter-approved school-funding guarantee, was originally intended to set a floor to stabilize school funding until lawmakers could lift per-pupil funding to make California one of the top 10 states in funding the nation.
Instead, he argues, Proposition 98 has become the ceiling for school funding and the state's education system has been stuck in an inadequate formula that leaves it near the bottom in per-pupil funding.
The association has been holding focus group meetings around the state, discovering that most Californians agree schools need additional resources.
"They want the arts back in school. They say, We want this, we want that,'" Chatman said. "People are starting to talk about what they want. In order to get the system moving, it's got to be a grass-roots process. We want to continue these courageous conversations and to start bearing some fruit."
Ultimately, he said, he believes, the education community will have to go to voters with a plan to increase school funding, accompanied with "a solid plan for student achievement."
Seventeen years of service
After buying a house in south Oxnard, Chatman said, he founded the Tierra Vista Neighborhood Council, became involved in civic affairs and ran twice unsuccessfully for the City Council, each time finishing in third place in multicandidate races in which only the top two were elected.
Six months after that second loss, Chatman read in the newspaper that the Ocean View School District trustees were interviewing candidates to fill a vacancy on the school board. He's served on that board now for 17 years.
"I've got to be the luckiest person in the world," he said. "I found a place that I could be part of and make a difference."
Posted by dkeith1397 on December 2, 2007 at 7:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Paul Chatman is one of the finest people I've ever worked with in the Oxnard community. I know he'll do a great job.
David Keith
Spokesperson
Oxnard PD
Posted by mlmlcc on December 2, 2007 at 8:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Cathy Carlson from TO here: The public needs to know that the California School Board Association is PRIVATE! It is not an official state organization. Not all school boards belong. For example, my hometown, Los Altos in Santa Clara County does not. Membership is considered a waste of money, according to some districts. Los Altos has ALL of its schools scoring way above 90% in the API (over 920 points) and its 2 middle schools are always among the top 3 in the state.
The CSSBA is a VERY liberal organization. Look through its list of policies. I was disgusted to read #142 or so, saying that it opposes having any school staff, teacher, or administrator asking parents about their citizenship. That is contrary to most people's wishes here in the Conejo! Yet 4 out 5 of our trustees go to this expensive conference, and support this garbage.
We need to screen families that come here illegally and suck up our resources. Yes, the kids are technically Americans, if they were born here, but if their parents are here illegally then they really should have someone else be their guardians. Other countries require citizens to be responsible for students who are using their free education. That's how it works in Europe. I'm certain that any children of illegals in Asia would never be allowed to be enrolled in their schools.
What good is requiring the signature of an illegal? This is just ludicrous. No other nation puts up with this.
I've worked in California public schools as a teacher and as a classified employee. There is NO law that prohibits a district from passing a policy REQUIRING proof of citizenship or proof of a green card for parents when they register a student. I want the Conejo Valley to be the first in the State to require this.
The CSSBA has unfortunately become very powerful in the past few years. What a shame that they manipulated the public into wrongly believing that Gov S was withholding funds. Also, it was a crime that the CSSBA and the teachers union and the PTA convinced voters that Arnold's reforms were hurtful. Just the opposite--we had the opportunity to require a longer time period before teacher tenure. The CSSBA shot it down, causing more bad teachers to lock in their guaranteed life-time careers.
Get rid of the PTA, which is a 501 C3 political lobbying group, and elect trustee who will get your school boards out of the pro-union ultra liberal CSSBA. Your kids will be better off, and the districts will save tens of thousands of dollars in membership and travel dollars.
Posted by moniquitis on December 2, 2007 at 8:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Gawd, I hope my children never have to be with Cathy Carlson in any schooling capacity. She is zenophobe in a county of immigrants. Quite possibly a bigot too.
Posted by mlmlcc on December 2, 2007 at 11:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Cathy Carlson again: FYI, Moniquitis, you owe me an apology. I am a rather new american--second generation on both sides. My grandparents were all immigrants. My asian husband was born abroad, so my kids are first generation american born on his side. I belong to various ethnic social groups and charities made up of immigrants and adult children of immigrants. I have lived and worked abroad 5 years in several countries in Europe and Asia, and have gone to school or college in 3. I have respect for diversity. I know several languages, including Spanish. I also have respect for national boundaries and the immigration and employment laws in other countries. It angers me when "guests" in my home country are disrespectful of my country's laws.
Illegals in the USA are crippling our society and causing California to dumb down its education standards. The next generation of americans will suffer because of the bleeding hearts who feel sorry for the mess that illegals have consciously and purposely put their own children through. Illegals risk deportation daily, yet they want to blame Americans for this situation. My friend who is teaching in Oxnard tells me that some of her hispanic students have 10 and 12 siblings! A 10 year old boy is reponsible for 4 younger children and he can't study and sleep enough and he is depressed. That mother needs to have her tubes tied. Parents in that class often do not speak English and they take their kids back to Mexico for weeks for the holidays. Money is not going to fix this cultural divide and their low priority for education.
Yes, we are a country of immigrants--legal immigrants who tried hard to become americans by encouraging their kids to LEARN IN SCHOOL! This article is about education. My point is that the CSBA is pandering to unions and the liberals who have an interest in kissing up to illegals who support them, rather than giving them and their kids "tough love" in school.
This guy Chatman says the answer to improved education in California is "more funding" and more expensive lobbying by CSBA. I say NO. The answer is to pull up the welcome mat for the illegals who take advantage of our generosity with free education and healthcare, while financially crushing America's middle class. I am sick of districts asking for more billion dollar bonds. It is throwing money down a rat hole. Parents need to do the private pre-schooling, enrichment, and homework help themselves for their kids. And you can't do it properly if you won't learn English yourself, and if you have a family of 10 or 12 kids, but you don't even make enough money to support yourself, your spouse and just one or two kids.
Stop making babies you can't afford! We are tired of supporting free-loaders! California's education dollars should be spent on families that are here legally. These thoughts do not make me a bigot. They define me as being a responsible parent and taxpayer.
Posted by BeaHappi on December 3, 2007 at 11:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Cathy - you make some really good points and I agree with many of them. What I like about your posts is that you don't sugar-coat things. I especially like this point -
"Stop making babies you can't afford! We are tired of supporting free-loaders!"
Amen to that! No matter what race...if you can't support them on your own then for the love of God, please stop having them!
Posted by SacGirl on December 6, 2007 at 2:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Cathy, for a teacher, you are not very good at research. CSBA (not CSSBA) is NOT a private organization. It is a not-for-profit association. You went off on the topic of illegal immigration that has nothing to do with this article,CSBA, or Paul Chatman as President. You disagree with ONE policy and label the association as BAD. How does that make any sense? You obviously have no idea of all the good they do. And you can't blame them for the Gov. renegging on his deal. He fooled EVERY education organization in the state, CSBA was not the only one. You definitely need to do more research on education issues. Glad my children aren't in your district.
Posted by SacGirl on December 7, 2007 at 1:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
By the way, Los Altos IS a CSBA member and has been for years. So check your facts again, Cathy.
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