Lucia Takes the Helm as EdVoice President and CEO
April 6, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact
Steve O'Mara - 415/250-6876
Lucia Takes the Helm as EdVoice President and CEO
SACRAMENTO - EdVoice has chosen Bill Lucia, one of California’s most knowledgeable and effective public school advocates, as its new President and CEO. Lucia brings extensive experience in senior education policy roles, and most importantly, a passion to fight for California kids. He succeeds Rae Belisle in the position.
Lucia has served as Executive Director of the State Board of Education and in a number of key staff positions within the California State Legislature, including Chief Consultant of the Assembly Education Committee, senior staff on the Budget and Appropriations Committees, and Chief of Staff and education consultant to the Chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus. He has also served in Senior Analyst roles at the Legislative Analyst's Office and the Department of Finance. Most recently, Lucia served as Director of Policy and COO for EdVoice.
EdVoice, helping parents and communities initiate real change in local schools
February 25, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Gary Davis - (916) 704-4845 or (916) 599-2911
EdVoice, helping parents and communities
initiate real change in local schools
SACRAMENTO- EdVoice this week is releasing a new documentary telling the story of how Sen. Gloria Romero (D-East Los Angeles), Chair of the Senate Education Committee and other legislative leaders worked with the Governor to rewrite California's education laws this year. The documentary highlights parents' new power to initiate change at local schools. Parents who have always had primary responsibility for their children now have the real power to stay and help fix persistently failing schools or choose a better performing pubic school in a different zip code.
"California's new education laws finally give parents the power to pull their child out of a failing public school and send them to a better public school, even if it's outside of their school district," said Rae Belisle, CEO of EdVoice. "We owe a debt of gratitude to Senator Gloria Romero for her tireless work in making this possible."
Romero Leads California to Race to the Top
January 7, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Bill Lucia - 916/233-8508
Steve O'Mara - 415/250-6876
Governor Signs Historic Education Reform Legislation to help CA Compete for $700 Million
(Sacramento, CA)-- EdVoice applauds Senator Gloria Romero, Senate Pro Tempore Steinberg, Speaker Bass, the Governor and the courageous legislators on both sides of the aisle for putting politics aside to do what's best for kids and fair for adults. Senator Gloria Romero's tireless effort to push California to boldly Race to the Top came to fruition today with the Governor's signature on a bi-partisan package of education reform. The two bills, SB 5X 1 and SB 5X 4, enable California to compete for a share of the $4.3 billion federal Race to the Top program.
"Senator Romero has made it clear she’s a champion for California kids," explained Rae Belisle, EdVoice CEO and State Board of Education Member. "It took courage to buck the status quo and give parents real power to drive change in their own neighborhood school and also have the choice to enroll in a higher performing public school in another school district. Senator Gloria Romero, the Governor and leadership in the Senate and Assembly deserve a tremendous amount of respect for this bold action."
Competition for "Race to the Top Funds" Puts Focus on Improving Schools for Kids
August 20, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Bill Lucia - 916/233-8508
Steve O'Mara - 415/250-6876
(Sacramento, CA)- EdVoice applauds the Governor's resolve to drive reform to make California eligible for new federal "Race to the Top" dollars. More importantly, beyond the ability to compete for new funding, the Governor's package takes commonsense steps to improve public schools for all California kids.
"EdVoice strongly supports the Governor in his work to make California competitive for the possibility of half a BILLION dollars in federal funding. The reform structure he outlined will improve the academic performance of all our kids," explained EdVoice CEO and State Board of Education Member Rae Belisle.
"In these tough economic times, we just can't afford to leave money on the table that could go to our children's classrooms," continued Belisle. "But most importantly, what the Governor is proposing is rooted in core pillars of result-proven reform. It's icing on the cake that we could potentially bring in hundreds of millions of new dollars simply by doing what we know is best for our kids."
Governor's Proposal to Empowers Schools to Use Technology to Best Meet Student Needs
June 4, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact
Bill Lucia - 916/233-8508
Steve O'Mara - 415/250-6876
(Sacramento, CA) - EdVoice commends the Governor's action to equip California schools for the 21st century with access to high-quality, standards-aligned digital learning materials. The Governor's initiative puts the State Board of Education to work with the Secretary of Education and Superintendent of Public Instruction to help local schools identify free, open-source electronic textbooks that will help kids master California's rigorous academic standards.
Senator Romero Provides Bold Leadership to Revitalize State's Lowest Achieving Schools
April 30, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact
Bill Lucia - 916/233-8508
Steve O'Mara - 415/250-6876
(Sacramento, CA) - EdVoice praised action taken yesterday by the State Senate Education Committee to move legislation that drives real change in California's historically lowest-performing schools. After a sober and at times uncomfortable discussion of the state's lackluster voluntary school improvement efforts over the last decade at a cost of over $2.5 billion in over 2,200 struggling schools, the committee voted to approve a new approach to accelerate renewal efforts.
Appointment of Lopez to State Board of Education Great News for California Kids
March 18, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact
Bill Lucia - 916/233-8508
Steve O'Mara - 415/250-6876
(Sacramento, CA) - EdVoice commends Governor Schwarzenegger for his appointment of Jorge Lopez to the State Board of Education. "Lopez brings a no-nonsense approach to education and a track-record of dramatically improving student achievement," explains EdVoice CEO & State Board Member Rae Belisle. "We need leaders like Lopez who can draw on a wealth of experience and know-how to improve education for our kids even as state coffers run low."
Lopez's experience as a student and educator in California classrooms gives him valuable insight into what does and what doesn’t work for students. "Lopez learned first hand what a dysfunctional school looks like decades ago as a student in a high-poverty school," said Belisle. "As an educator, he has dedicated his life to provide kids in low-income communities the opportunity and tough love that he needed but never got as a student."
Beyond proven classroom results, Lopez brings valuable personal and professional connections to migrant education. "It's critical to California's future to provide a quality education for all students,” explains Belisle. “Lopez’s ties with migrant and inner-city schools provides an avenue to drive change for two historically underserved groups of kids.”
And Lopez understands innovation. As the director of the Oakland Charter Academy, Lopez transformed the school from the gutter of academic failure to one of the best performing schools in the state. “Lopez’s outside of the box approach puts what is best for kids over all other interests,” said Belisle. Lopez and the students at Oakland Charter Academy are a role model for children living in poverty all across this state showing that with hard work they can achieve.”
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Governor Appoints EdVoice CEO Rae Belisle to State Board of Education
February 27, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact
Bill Lucia - 916/233-8508
Steve O'Mara - 415/250-6876
Raneene Belisle, 53, of Mt. Aukum, has been appointed to the State Board of Education. She has served as the president and chief executive officer for EdVoice since 2008. From 2007 to 2008, Belisle was a special assistant to the Director of Finance and, from 2004 to 2007, she worked as general counsel for the Sacramento County Office of Education. Belisle was the executive director of the California State Board of Education from 2003 to 2004, was the associate general counsel and governmental relations team leader for the Los Angeles Unified School District from 2002 to 2003 and was chief counsel for the California State Board of Education from 1997 to 2002. In 1997, she was a senior consultant for the California State Assembly Committee on Higher Education. This position requires Senate confirmation and the compensation is $100 per diem. Belisle is registered decline to state.
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STAR reports: The latest on student achievement
2008 marked the 10 year anniversary of the STAR Program. Prior to the STAR Program , parents, teachers and policy makers did not have an accurate school- and grade- level measure to compare academic achievement.
This past year's data shows that California has come a long way but still needs improvement to empower students to succeed in college and the global economy.
Click here to see the full release from the Department of Education, or click here to see how your local school is performing at Greatschools.net.
The persistent achievement gaps are unacceptable. Clearly, holding news conferences and conventions to express grief over these gaps is not enough. We need real change in our public schools to realize the goal of all students, regardless of income or ethnicity, having an equal opportunity to succeed.
EdVoice’s mission is to drive policy to dramatically increase measurable student achievement and eliminate educational inequality by improving our current schools and growing a better model.
