Retiring Sen. Hart to Head New CSU Program

Continuing his life’s work as an advocate for public schools, retiring state Sen. Gary K. Hart said Tuesday he will head a new California State University program aimed at improving classroom performance.

As director of the Sacramento-based CSU Institute for Educational Reform, Hart, 51, will aid elementary and secondary schools that are trying to shine in these tough budgetary times.

“There’s a growing network of schools fundamentally trying to change. But it’s hard out there,” Hart said Tuesday. “Schools have trouble keeping their heads above water.”

The 20-year lawmaker, a Santa Barbara Democrat whose term expires next week, has represented Ventura County in the Legislature since he was first elected to the Assembly in 1974. In 1982, he moved to the Senate to serve the first of three terms.

A former history teacher, Hart made a name for himself in the Legislature by championing education reforms ranging from the establishment of charter schools that allow more local control to the strengthening of graduation standards.

Now, Hart plans to follow through on his work as a lawmaker--a rare chance for legislators.

“It’s really a fortunate opportunity for me,” Hart said. “It gives me a way to do things I talked about in the Legislature. It gives me a different way to influence public education.”

CSU Chancellor Barry Munitz said he and Hart took care not to discuss the deal until after the Legislature adjourned for the year in August and Hart’s duties as chairman of the Senate Education Committee were over.

“We couldn’t talk about it at the time,” Munitz said, explaining that he feared an appearance of a conflict of interest. “But I said, ‘Promise me that you talk to us before you talk to anyone else.’ It was clear that he was the best possible fit for us.”

Citing family reasons, Hart last year stunned supporters by announcing he would retire from politics, skipping an anticipated run for state superintendent of public instruction.

Snagging Hart to run the new policy institute “is really a great accomplishment for us,” Munitz said, “and a marvelous opportunity for him. It’s a perfect partnership because it marries his policy interest with ours in restructuring kindergarten through 12th-grade schools.”

Munitz said the new institute would serve the entire 22-campus California State University system--a leader in education if only through the sheer number of teachers it sends into the field. CSU campuses graduate one out of every nine U.S. teachers, and half the teachers in California classrooms.

The institute, to be housed at Cal State Sacramento, will help improve schools through a variety of steps that include teacher training, public policy discussions and networking.

One of the program’s goals, Hart said, will be to identify outstanding teachers and methods and share them with school officials trying to learn by example.

The institute will also organize conferences, papers and academic surveys, Hart said. Also, the veteran lawmaker, who will draw a $95,000 salary, hopes to aid incoming state legislators who tackle education reform in the new era of term limits.

Joining Hart at the new reform unit when it opens in March, 1995, will be Sue Burr, a Senate Education Committee policy expert who will serve as associate director.

The institute will have three employees initially, but will seek corporate sponsors to expand its operations over the next five years.