In May 2011, the United States Supreme Court upheld the order of a federal judicial panel which required that the State of California reduce its prison population, following lawsuits alleging prison over-crowding which violated the rights of prisoners.  To meet looming deadlines, the State is considering an early release program.

Despite all our protests and concerns, last year, the State began sending its prisoners to us through “realignment” – a fancy way of dumping their problems on local governments.  Since last October, Los Angeles County has taken on over 7,700 prisoners.  As we predicted, the State has not provided even half of the funding we need to take on these additional prisoners.

Now the federal government wants to force a further decrease in the jail population of almost 9,000 more prisoners.  The State’s response cannot be to release prisoners early, without proper screening or procedures.  Issues of recidivism and the lack of resources for supervision at the local level must be addressed.  Releasing prisoners early only compromises public safety and puts more pressure on law enforcement.  Enough is enough!  Releasing prisoners early is a miscarriage of justice dumped on the people of California – what about their rights?

Today marks a very special birthday – the 225^th anniversary of the United States Constitution!

On Constitution Day we recognize the thirty-nine men who created the document which still governs us today.  With the accompanying Bill of Rights, our fundamental freedoms of religion, speech, press and assembly were guaranteed.

With last week’s anniversary of the tragedy of September 11, 2001 and the recent protests occurring in the Middle East, we are reminded of the basic tenants of our form of government and the challenges that can accompany the freedoms we hold dear.  Over the course of two centuries, men and women have given their lives for these rights – some trying desperately to be a part of this democratic experiment by immigrating to the United States, others making the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our freedom.

Democracy can be messy.  Two hundred and twenty-five years ago, there were debates and arguments, and some delegates even stormed out of the Constitutional Convention.  Ultimately, however, a compromise was constructed, which, along with checks and balances, mark the core of our system.

As we celebrate this very special anniversary, let us also be reminded of our personal responsibilities in preserving and protecting our democracy – the need to inform ourselves, be active participants, to listen and respect other opinions and, despite the messiness, to be thankful and proud to live in the greatest nation on earth!

This week, I have asked the Board of Supervisors to declare September “School Attendance Month.”  For many of us, attending school is a no-brainer.  But for some children, it can be an ongoing challenge, with devastating results.  Low-income children are four times more likely to be chronically absent in kindergarten than their peers from families with higher incomes.  And older kids face even more challenges: chronically absent sixth-graders have lower graduation rates.  Also, the more you miss school in ninth grade is a pretty reliable predictor that you won’t be graduating from high school.

It goes without saying that the more a student misses school, the more likely they will have significant challenges with literacy, math and all of the other skills that prepare them for college and the workforce.  There are numerous reasons why children from low-income households are more likely to miss school – everything from unstable housing, unreliable transportation and probably most heartbreaking to me: a lack of a safe path to school, due to neighborhood violence.

In 2010, the Los Angeles County Education Coordinating Council (ECC) established the School Attendance Task Force to determine exactly why a child misses school, evaluate the current strategies in place to ensure kids don’t miss school, and develop recommendations to improve attendance and reduce tardiness.  They released their findings earlier this year, and not surprisingly, they concluded that our current practices are not very effective.  There is a lack of coordination between schools, the courts and law enforcement to address truancy, and what strategies we do have in place are outdated and punitive in nature.

I’m very pleased that the ECC has shined a light on this, and the strategies they recommend are sensible and based on best practices and current research.  I’m particularly pleased that Long Beach Unified’s approach was highlighted as a model practice!  The strategies are not complicated: it basically comes down to schools implementing and using an attendance-data system, early intervention with a student who misses school, actively engaging parents, incentivizing attendance (as opposed to penalizing non-attendance), addressing the needs of homeless students, and using the court system and law enforcement only when absolutely necessary.

At the end of the day, our students have no chance at high achievement in school if they don’t even make it through the door!  Let’s work together to do everything possible to give them a chance at success.