GILROY
– Who says the wheels of government turn slowly?
GILROY – Who says the wheels of government turn slowly?
Less than two months ago, former California Superintendent of Schools Delaine Eastin forced Future Farmers of America consultants to leave their regional posts and help carry out administrative duties in Sacramento.
Last week, the state’s new superintendent of schools Jack O’Connell announced that the agriculture experts, responsible for training FFA teachers, running livestock competitions and providing leadership regionally, may return to the field offices they once occupied.
The decision is being lauded across the state and in Gilroy, where educators and students worried that this spring’s regional livestock competitions would have to be cancelled.
“We’re just ecstatic, but we looked at this as a no-brainer,” said Jim Aschwanden, executive director of the California Agricultural Teachers Association, a group that rigorously opposed Eastin’s decision last fall. “For teachers to keep up on curriculum, they need to have access to experts who work in the industry and understand the industry. Having a cubicle dweller in Sacramento doesn’t help schools.”
In October, Eastin called the move a cost-savings measure done in light of the state’s budget shortfall. After a hiring freeze was implemented last fall, the Department of Education needed extra bodies to fill 100 open administrative positions.
Ag groups, however, feared it would drastically reduce the quality and quantity of regional instruction and competitions, blasting it as the first step in the dismantling of the FFA program.
“The regional supervisor is the organizational backbone of anything we do outside of local instruction,” said David Duarte, Gilroy High School’s ag science teacher who was pleased to know that Gilroy’s ag consultant has returned.
The Gilroy FFA branch operates within the Central Coast FFA region, headquartered in San Luis Obispo. Greg Beard is the region’s consultant. He could not be reached for comment before deadline.
GHS has more than 200 students in its FFA chapter. The group attends roughly 50 regional and statewide livestock competitions and leadership contests per year. The great majority of those activities would have been severely hampered without regional consultants.
Duarte said his FFA chapter is preparing for peak fair season in March and April. The group has won several livestock competitions over the past year, including successive market hog championships at the Junior Grand Nationals, the Santa Clara County Fair and the California State Fair.
When O’Connell took over for Eastin at the beginning of this month, ag educators lobbied his office with information showing the move did not save money.
Aschwanden says that in November, the state spent $11,500 in consultants’ travel expenses. In November 2001, the state only paid $1,300 for travel costs, Aschwanden said.
“It didn’t take a genius to realize this wasn’t going to save any money for the state,” Aschwanden said.
