The Glendale News Press interviewed Glendale Unified School District lobbyist Jeff Frost for details on Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposed midyear cuts to the state education budget. Frost said that the governor’s plan allowed Glendale and other school districts more flexibility than plans proposed by legislators so far.
His opinion meshed with comments I heard GUSD’s auditor make at the December Board of Education meeting. She said although Glendale has a cushion of grant funds supporting classroom initiatives, most of those funds are restricted for specific uses and often can’t be used to pay wages for salaries or contract work. According to Frost, the governor’s plan would lift some of those restrictions.
Want to know a bit more about GUSD’s lobbyist? Here is an excerpt from the website of CATESOL (California Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages):
Jeff Frost has an MA and a Ph.D. in political science and taught American Government courses in college for several years. He has been an adjunct faculty member at California State University, Sacramento. Jeff has represented public education clients since 1987 when he worked at the California School Boards Association. In 1990 he started the firm Frost Davis & Donnelly, specifically to represent school districts and educational associations. Jeff has worked extensively on adult education, ESL and literacy issues over the last decade and is considered one of the state’s experts on adult education policy.
A quick web search revealed that in addition to CATESOL, Frost represents several other school districts and California education-related organizations, including:
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California Association of School Psychologists
California Council for Adult Education
California Educational Technology Professionals
California School Library Association
The 19 Marin County School Districts
La Canada School District
Burbank School District
Magnolia School District
Riverside School District
Tulare County Office of Education
This is probably not an exhaustive list. Mr. Frost follows more than 600 education-related bills each year, and attends all education-related legislative meetings as well as meeting with legislators and their staff informally.