March 24, 2017 (Sacramento) – California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson filed a court brief Wednesday in the Ninth Circuit federal court supporting Santa Clara County’s request for a preliminary injunction to halt an executive order by President Donald Trump. Trump’s order aimed at deporting many undocumented immigrantsthreatens to stop federal funding for California cities, counties, and possibly public schools.
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January 23, 2017 (Sacramento) - State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson today directed the California Department of Education to work with all schools and school districts forced to close as a result of flooding and other winter storm related issues so that they may qualify for relief from the loss of Average Daily Attendance (ADA) funding.
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January 7, 2016 (El Cajon) – Montgomery Middle School in El Cajon is among six California schools chosen as Exemplars of 21st Century Learning, a prestigious designation given out by the national coalition Partnership for 21st Century Learning (p21.org/exemplar-program). Montgomery Middle School is an International Baccalaureate school that provides an environment of collaboration, innovative technology use, and inquiry based problem solving, all set in real world situations for a diverse population of students.
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Two Democrats to vie in run-off in State Superintendent of Public Instruction race
Photo: Michael McQuary (right) , with supporter (left) is the new face on San Diego Unified's school board
By Miriam Raftery
June 4, 2014 (San Diego) – Candidates endorsed by the County Democratic Party scored strong wins in local education races during the June primary election. Though school board races officially are nonpartisan, political parties weighed in with slate mailers advising voters on the parties’ preferences.
Incumbent Kevin Beiser trounced challenger Amy Redding 68% to 32% in San Diego Unified School District seat B. In addition, Michael McQuary, PhD, a retired teacher, won the District C seat unopposed.
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Grossmont, Borrego and Ramona districts may fail to meet financial obligations
February 23, 2012 (Sacramento)—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson warned today that the latest review of school district budgets shows that one-third of public school students in California attend a district in financial jeopardy. That includes seven districts in San Diego County—three of them in East County.
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2 Democrats won “open” primary to square off Nov. 3: Teacher/legislator vs. retired superintendent
November 1, 2010 (San Diego) – When Republican Abel Maldonado held up the state budget and demanded fellow legislators approve an “open” primary ballot initiative as a condition for his vote, the GOP thought it would result in more Republicans winning high office in California, a heavily Democratic state.
But the new rule, which declared the top two vote-getters in June's primary winners regardless of parties, resulted in two Democrats, Tom Torlakson and Larry Aceves, squaring off in the state superintendent’s race (though Aceves has since changed his party registration to independent).
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October 5,2009 (San Diego)—“Our schools have been left to fall to the bottom of rankings in the nation,” Tom Torlakson told delegates at the San Diego Grassroots Convention in San Diego on September 26th. “In the early ‘70s, we were the best in the nation.”
Gloria Romero, also running for the state’s top education spot, also issued a call to turn around California’s underperforming schools. “It’s shameful that California leads the nation in drop-outs,” she said. “Let’s put education at the top of the Democratic agenda.” She called education “the civil rights issue of our time.” She added, “My mother had a sixth grade education. I have a PhD. That’s the power of education to turn around a life…We spend more on prisons to locok up people than we do on educating our students.”
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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.
February 23, 2012 (Sacramento)—State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson warned today that the latest review of school district budgets shows that one-third of public school students in California attend a district in financial jeopardy. 
By Miriam Raftery
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