Santa Monica Daily Press
Volume 2, Issue 118
Monday, March 31, 2003
First Lady kicks off local rotary club efforts
By Daily Press Staff
California First Lady Sharon Davis recently spoke about literacy efforts to a group of Santa Monica business leaders who will read to local elementary students this week.
The Rotary Club of Santa Monica hosted Davis at its luncheon at the Riviera Country Club last week as part of its kick off for “Rotary Reads To Kids” week, which begins today.
About 50 Rotarians will read to children in kindergarten through second grade at Edison, McKinley, Muir and Rogers elementary school in Santa Monica. The annual program includes donating books to the schools.
“To have a member of our business community take time out of their busy schedule to come into a classroom and read a book to kindergarten, first and second graders leaves a lasting impression on these youngsters,” said John Deasy, superintendent of schools in Santa Monica and Malibu.
“In these lean, budgetary times, having the community involved in our children’s education is not only enjoyable, it is necessary,” he added.
Sharon Davis’ husband, Gov. Gray Davis, has proposed cutting millions of dollars from local school district budgets to fill the state’s estimated $35 billion deficit.
But Sharon Davis down-played the cuts by saying when her husband got into office, California was ranked 48th in the country on spending per pupil. The state no ranks 28th, which really only means the proposed cuts account for a 4 percent reduction if one looks at where the state began and is currently, she said.
Many school officials in the audience rolled their eyes at that explanation because they are forced to deal with a $13 million budget shortfall almost entirely from state cuts.
Sharon Davis, who has visited thousands of schools around the state promoting literacy and education, believes teaching children to read is fundamental.
“For them to realize their dreams, they have to be able to read,” Sharon Davis said. “That’s why what you are doing is so important.”
But it’s difficult to make sure all students in California are guaranteed equal opportunity to learn how to read, she said. California has 8,000 schools, 6.2 million children and employs 300,000 teachers, which makes it more difficult than other states to deliver an impact, Davis said.
"That’s more than 34 states have in population,” Sharon Davis said.
California has made great strides in the past four years under her husband’s administration, she said, because it now has statewide standards. Every school in the state is supposed to use the same curriculum so every student, regardless of how rich or poor, gets the same education.
However, not all schools have the same amount of resources available, which is why the Rotary Club of Santa Monica has donated several thousand books to schools locally and in cities like Compton and Watts.
The club also provided books to a senior citizen facility in Culver City and donated to a literacy program in Swaziland in South Africa.