Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/669580
What did you do before you became attorney general? I am one of two daughters of parents who met when they were graduate students at the University of California, Berkeley, in the 1960s. My parents met while they were both actively involved in the civil rights move- ment. My sister Maya and I joke oen that we grew up surrounded by a bunch of adults marching and shouting about this thing called justice. I grew up admiring the heroes of that movement, the lawyers who were its archi- tects: Thurgood Marshall, Charles Hamilton Houston, and Constance Baker Motley. They understood the skill of the legal profession and its ability to translate the passion of the streets to the courtrooms of our country. After graduating law school, I decided that I wanted to be a prosecutor, which many in my family found surprising. I believed strongly in the need to be a voice for the most voiceless and vulnerable in our society, many of whom are victims of crime. I have spent my career in public service as a prosecutor. Who was the teacher who had the greatest impact on you? I would not be standing here today, a product of California public schools, were it not for my teachers. In particular, Mrs. Frances Wilson, my first-grade teacher at Thousand Oaks Elementary School in Berkeley, who later attended my law school graduation, was a role model for the perfection and the significance of the teacher. I am forever grateful for her and so many other teachers for whom this is not just a profession, but a calling. What are your proudest accomplish- ments as attorney general related to education? Last year, I created the Bureau of Children's Justice to focus the resources and atten- tion of law enforcement on ensuring that California's children receive full protection under the law and equal opportunities to succeed. The bureau continues my office's Smart on Crime approach by addressing the root causes of crime, including our broken foster care system and discrimination and inequities in education. We simply cannot let down our most vulnerable children today, then lock them up tomorrow and act surprised! (Learn more about the bureau at oag.ca.gov/bcj.) I have been proud to lead the charge against predatory for-profit colleges like Corinthian that are defrauding our students and veterans, saddling them with a lifetime of debt and no job prospects. I will continue to push for meaningful relief for all students who have been the victims of these com- panies' tactics so that every student has the opportunity to pursue a quality education. And I have also led a four-year initiative to address California's elementary school truancy crisis. What are the ramifications of the truancy crisis? When students are chronically absent from elementary school, they fall behind academ- ically, they are less likely to graduate from high school, and they are more likely to be unemployed, on public assistance, or victims or perpetrators of crime. Only 17 percent of chronically absent kindergartners and first-graders in California read proficiently by third grade. This is particularly concerning because students who don't read proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to drop out of school. Missing school deprives students of important developmental and learning opportunities, reducing opportunities for later success in life and increasing the risk of later involvement in the criminal A Chat With Kamala Harris By LEN FELDMAN Harris with middle school students. C A L I F O R N I A A T T O R N E Y G E N E R A L Kamala D. Harris has made firsts a career hallmark. On Jan. 3, 2011, the Oakland native became the first woman, the first African American, and the first South Asian to serve as the state's top law enforcement official. Harris was re-elected to her post on Nov. 4, 2014. As a legal advocate, Harris has helped fight two key battles against the forces that seek to silence educators' voices and their advocacy for students: Friedrichs v. CTA and Vergara v. California. In addition, CTA has commended and endorsed her program to battle truancy. Harris is CTA's recommended candidate to replace retiring U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer. 31 April 2016