Issues

Phil’s Record on Education

Phil Angelides has been a longtime champion of education, confident that California's quality of life and future economic competitiveness depend upon a world-class system of education. As Governor, Phil will invest in educational excellence and innovation for our children, so that California has the best-trained workforce to compete in the global economy and our young people have the skills and knowledge to succeed.

  • Protecting education investment. When California faced a budget shortfall under Governor Davis, Treasurer Angelides “became the first statewide officer to question the prevailing assumption that California's budget crisis means the schools must suffer,” as the Sacramento Bee said in an editorial in 2003. He consistently stood up and spoke out against Governor Schwarzenegger’s harmful education budget policies, Schwarzenegger’s broken promise to restore school funding, and the Governor’s proposals to increase college tuition and fees. He led the successful opposition to Schwarzenegger’s efforts to end academic outreach and college preparation programs that help disadvantaged students attend our universities and colleges, to cut college financial aid, and to turn 25,000 qualified students away from CSU and UC.
  • Building schools. Treasurer Angelides was the first statewide elected official in 2002 to call for a $25 billion school bond package to relieve school overcrowding and to repair older schools. He actively supported Propositions 26 and 39, lowering the vote threshold for approving local school bonds. And he financed over 6,700 school projects during his tenure as Treasurer.
  • Helping teachers buy homes. Treasurer Angelides created the Extra Credit Teacher Home Purchase Program to provide low-interest home loans and down-payment assistance to teachers who have committed to serve in toughest-to-teach schools. The program has helped 1,500 families buy a home and helped attract and retain qualified teachers at the schools that need them most.  
  • Helping families save for college. Treasurer Angelides launched ScholarShare, a college savings plan that has helped 140,000 families invest $1.5 billion in college savings at a time when tuition and college fees are rising sharply. ScholarShare enables Californians to invest and save for college education with tax-free benefits.
  • Endowing college dreams. Treasurer Angelides sponsored legislation, which was passed by the Senate and Assembly but was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger, that sought to establish the California Hope Endowment to generate up to $2 billion in new revenues over the next decade – without raising taxes – to help more California students prepare for and attend college.  The California Hope Endowment would fund scholarships, academic outreach and counseling, and college-preparatory courses in high schools. The endowment would be funded by transferring the state’s mismanaged real estate holdings to a public trust corporation, which would manage them like a business to generate revenues for the benefit of increasing college access and achievement.
  • Expanding charter schools. Treasurer Angelides has been a proponent of charter schools to train today’s students for tomorrow’s workforce. As part of the Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Acts of 2002 and 2004, he spearheaded the carve-out of $400 million for public charter school expansion and construction. Furthermore, the California School Finance Authority (CSFA), which is chaired by Treasurer Angelides, sought and won a $50 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to expand charter school facilities.
  • Hometown Involvement. Phil Angelides served as Co-Chair of Sacramento Mayor Joe Serna Jr.'s Commission on Education and the City's Future in 1995-96, and led a unique bipartisan civic committee that helped turn around the city's troubled school district.