Program tries to engage students in politics
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New state Assemblyman Das Williams of the 35th District spoke to students at Santa Ynez Valley Union High School Friday afternoon about his path to politics and his plan to reform California’s ailing budget.
“I came to the powerful realizations that history can change on a dime with the action of one person,” Williams said.
He also had students go through a word-play exercise describing what word they think of when politics is mentioned. Most of the students’ associations were negative, such as confusing, elitist and compromising, but Williams said those connotations are the reason he is determined to make his time in office a positive experience.
Williams discussed the different programs that are funded by the state budget and described how hard it is to cut from areas such as K-12 schools, universities, state parks and prison services.
“In a poll, people didn’t want to raise taxes, cut funding to education or prisons, but they want some sort of progress. The path there is trodden with suffering because there will have to be some hard decisions,” Williams said.
On Jan. 3, Jerry Brown was sworn in as California’s 39th governor, and he has already warned everyone he’s going to propose “a tough budget for tough times” that will require sacrifice from every interest group.
“On Monday Jerry is going to announce his plan, and from what I’ve been hearing he’s proposing a cuts-only budget,” Williams said Friday.
The Assemblyman’s visit was designed to connect students to the political process and cultivate a sense of civic duty as part of Brett Piersma’s Advanced Placement Government and Politics course.
“It is my hope that beyond learning about what legislators do, the students will be inspired by Mr. Williams’ background of having growing up locally to themselves engage in the civic process,” said Principal Mark Swanitz.
“Mr. Piersma’s seniors are being given a unique opportunity to interact directly with their elected representative in state government,” Swanitz added.
The discussion was followed by a brief question and answer period by seniors in the class.
Williams won the 35th District seat in November, beating Republican candidate Mike Stoker. The 35th District includes the Santa Ynez Valley, the South Coast and some of Ventura County.
Posted in Education on Friday, January 7, 2011 11:32 pm | Tags:
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