Hunger for leadership at legislative luncheon
Published: January 1, 2010
The Legislative Network Luncheon at CSBA’s Annual Education Conference and Trade Show featured a senior statesman but no Outstanding Legislator of the Year or any other honors.
“We really needed to make a statement about the behavior of the Legislature as a whole,” explained CSBA Assistant Executive Director for Governmental Relations Rick Pratt. While he acknowledged some legislators’ earnest efforts on behalf of schools, Pratt blasted lawmakers’ overall record in 2009—including adopting three out-of-balance budgets while cutting Proposition 98 education funding by $18 billion “and then turning around and claiming that schools were fully funded.”
CSBA 2008-09 President Paula S. Campbell introduced the statesman and guest speaker for the luncheon: Gary K. Hart, former state senator and secretary for education in the Gray Davis administration in the 1990s. Campbell noted Hart had received CSBA’s Outstanding Legislator of the Year award in 1987 and 1992, and he earned a Lifetime Achievement Award from the association in 1993.
“This, you can tell, was in the olden days,” Campbell quipped.