State ed chief promises leadership, school improvements

By: JENNIFER KABBANY - Staff Writer | Wednesday, April 4, 2007 11:19 PM PDT ∞

RIVERSIDE -- Dave Long hasn't officially started in his position as the state's education secretary, but that hasn't stopped him from creating a laundry list of goals he is ready and eager to tackle.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger tapped Long, Riverside County's superintendent of schools, for the post last week. He officially begins July 1.

In an interview this week, Long cited several priorities: helping to rework federal education laws, increasing vocational opportunities, closing the achievement gap and ushering in an overall higher quality of education in the state's public schools.

"I appreciate the belief and the confidence that the governor has placed in me," Long said. "I am also very excited about the possibilities that exist."

As education secretary, Long serves as the governor's top education adviser, working to create, promote and support the governor's policies. To that end, he also works with the state board of education and the superintendent of public instruction, among other statewide education groups.

Long said that for the next three months, he will split his time between Riverside County, where he has served as superintendent of schools for the last nine years, and Sacramento, where lawmakers are working to develop a budget for the coming fiscal year and hash through hundreds of bills.

Meanwhile, it has not been lost on local school officials that they will have one of their own in Sacramento. Educators across Southwest County said Long's position could be a boon for the area.

"(Local superintendents) have asked, 'Can we get your ear?'" Long said. "I've said, 'Of course you can.' I know them. I have been here for 17 years, and I've built a lot of positive relationships."

Long, 67, said Riverside County will always have his heart, and that in addition to his time in Sacramento, he will retain his home in Southwest County, his wife will continue to work as principal of an elementary school in Corona, and his children will remain enrolled in Lake Elsinore schools.

Moreover, he said he believes his appointment illustrates that Riverside County's school districts have made great strides over the last decade.

"I think this is a reflection of all the fine work that has gone on in this county," Long said. "The whole county should feel good about this."

Leader, consensus builder

Like he has in his role as county superintendent, Long said he will bring a positive attitude and a desire for collaboration to the state position, attributes that may illustrate why he was chosen for the job.

As news of Long's appointment spread recently, the reaction was decidedly different than what came about after Schwarzenegger picked Alan Bersin for the post in 2005.

Bersin, also a county superintendent at the time, was dubbed by the governor as a "reformer," but he was quickly lambasted by the California Teachers Association as a bureaucrat who had hurt teacher morale and not created a track record of success.

Bersin left in November. Although there is an acting secretary, Long is essentially replacing Bersin.

While, by some accounts, Bersin's professional relationship with the state's superintendent of public instruction, Jack O'Connell, was strained, Long and O'Connell have already established a strong working relationship.

O'Connell could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but stated after Long's appointment that he considers the new secretary a "longtime friend."

He went on to describe Long as someone who has "been a leader on implementing effective intervention programs for challenged schools and has also been a champion of improving school facilities."

Long has worked in public education for more than four decades, including as a teacher, principal, athletic director, district superintendent and county superintendent.

When the governor announced Long's appointment last week, he touted him as a "leader" and someone who could bring everyone together for the betterment of students. This time, the 340,000-member teachers association was pleased with the pick.

The union's statewide representatives could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but recently released a statement describing their mood as optimist over Long's selection.

They cited his 21 years in the classroom as something that would enable him to relate to and empathize with teachers' perspectives.

"It's a very positive sign that the governor is reaching out and attempting to ... end the bickering," said Temecula Valley High teacher Barry Wilson, the state teacher association's Temecula Valley representative, referring to the long-standing strife between Schwarzenegger and the union.

The governor and the teachers union have fought over education reform propositions supported by Schwarzenegger, as well as his education spending levels, for the last several years.

But Long, a Republican, has been able to garner support from the Democratic-leaning union.

"CTA had endorsed Long in every election because of his history of cooperation with teachers," Wilson said. "Not that we always agreed, but he has always valued teacher input and actually taken it into account when he made a decision."

Long said that perhaps he is seen in such a light because of his strong belief in partnerships.

"I have always worked hard at forming relationships that spin into collaborative efforts for the good of students," he said. "It doesn't make any difference to me whether we agree or disagree or what group we belong to. For me, it's very simple, we have one common focus -- children."

Laundry list of goals

Long is quick to cite several priorities he has as the state's next education secretary.

For one, he said he wants to bring about an increase in the quality of public education.

To help achieve this, he said it's important that school districts share their best practices through a communication network that spans the state.

He also said closing the achievement gap is a big concern, one shared by the governor and O'Connell.

Test scores for black, Latino and poor students across Riverside County have shown dramatic improvement over the last seven years, in part through county intervention programs. Long said he will bring his county experiences and successes to the discussion in Sacramento.

Another focus of Long's, one that has been one of Schwarzenegger's favorite projects over the last two years, is to boost vocational and career-technical opportunities for students.

"We all know not every student wishes to go to a four-year school," Long said. "Union leadership has to be involved so we could have a clear picture on what should be available for these students so they can choose a path."

Long said he is also prepared to help influence the national discussion on how best to rework the federal No Child Left Behind law, 5-year-old legislation that promises to sanction schools that do not score highly enough on statewide standardized tests.

He said that while he supports the notion of accountability that the law creates, he believes a school that shows improvement should not be punished. Instead, he prefers the state's "growth" model, which gives schools credit for testing gains.

He also said he is concerned about the sometimes onerous mandates school districts face in getting their teachers dubbed "highly qualified" by requiring a litany of various "accreditations."

"We are all for accountability and high-quality teachers, but we want to make sure the rules are equitable and achievable," Long said.

To meet these goals and more, Long promises to work with dedication and zeal.

The average tenure of California's education secretaries under Schwarzenegger is about 20 months, but Long typically holds jobs for longer than that. He's held his current position for nearly a decade, and prior to that he was superintendent of the Lake Elsinore Unified School District for seven years.

In a meeting between Long and Schwarzenegger prior to the announcement, Long told the governor he wasn't interested in serving as the state's education secretary for just 12 or 18 months.

"His response was, 'I'm not either,'" Long recalled of the conversation. "He said, 'I want you to help me paint the picture of education for the children of California.'"

-- Contact staff writer Jennifer Kabbany at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2625, or jkabbany@californian.com.

First name only. Comments including last names, contact addresses, e-mail addresses or phone numbers will be deleted. Attempts to misrepresent your identity or impersonate any person will not be approved. All comments are screened before they appear online, so please keep them brief. Comments reflect the views of those commenting and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff writers. Click here to view additional comment policies.