Learn About Louise Jaffe, Education Advocate



		About Louise PTA Louise has lived in Santa Monica for more than twenty years and first became involved in community and education issues through her children. The mother of two daughters, Maggie and Nora, who have been educated in Santa Monica's public schools, Louise has been a PTA leader for more than 10 years. She has served the maximum 2 year terms as President of the Will Rogers PTA, President of the Santa Monica Malibu Council of PTAs, and President of the Santa Monica High School PTSA. She continues to serve as an officer on the Santa Monica Malibu Council of PTAs and has worked closely with PTA leaders from all Santa Monica and Malibu public schools. Louise has been repeatedly honored with PTA Honorary Service Awards and is the proud recipient of PTA's highest award, the Golden Oak. www.smmpta.org Santa Monica Lifelong Learning Community Project Beginning with a "Call to Action" in 1997 (smllc.org/lllc_background.html), Louise has helped create a shared community vision and led a focused, sustained, and effective effort to realize Santa Monica's potential as a model Lifelong Learning Community. This work has made her a familiar, well-respected, and well-known advocate for lifelong learning in Santa Monica and has resulted in strong working relationships with community and organizational leaders throughout the City. Participants in the Lifelong Learning Community Partnership include the City of Santa Monica, the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District, Santa Monica/UCLA Medical Center, Saint John's Health Center, Venice Family Clinic, Westside Family Health Center, RAND, Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce, Santa Monica Child Care and Early Education Task Force, Connections for Children, and Santa Monica College. Louise writes the monthly Lifelong Learning Community Newsletter (http://smllc.org/newsletter.html) and continues to keep a close watch on issues and events affecting lifelong learning in Santa Monica and Malibu. www.smllc.org Community for Excellent Public Schools Louise is a founding member of the political action committee Community for Excellent Public Schools (CEPS) (excellentpublicschools.org/) and served as Co-Chair with Shari Davis from 2003 to the end of May 2006 when she stepped down to pursue her run for a seat on the College Board. www.excellentpublicschools.org Charter Amendment/City-Schools Contract: During her tenure as co-chair, CEPS gathered 15,000 signatures from Santa Monica voters to qualify a charter amendment that would require the City to increase its funding to our public schools. Just prior to the petition deadline, the City and the School District came to an agreement which has greatly improved funding stability, predictability, and quality for our public schools. (smmirror.com/volume5/issue48/city_district_staffs.asp) California's K-12 Public Schools: How are they doing? In January of 2005, CEPS and PTA sponsored a community conference in partnership with RAND as the first public event at the new RAND headquarters. The conference featured Stephen Carroll, Rand Researcher delivering his report on the State of California's schools to our community. Election 2004 In the 2004 election, CEPS sent out questionaires to candidates and held a well-attended candidates forum focusing on education. All City Council candidates were asked to sign a pledge confirming their support of the City/School contract. Based on their support for the contract and past record, CEPS ranked City Council candidates on education and endorsed candidates for the School Board. All CEPS endorsed school board candidates were elected. Caravan for Kids In April of 2005 during stalled and acrimonious state budget negotiations, CEPS partnered with the California State PTA to orchestrate Caravan for Kids. Caravan for Kids coordinated local press conferences up and down the state with a unified message to rebuild California's commitment to education. The two-day event ended with a rally in Sacramento attended by thousands of PTA members and their children. The event garnered powerful coverage by the media and helped set the stage for the defeat of Prop 76 in June of 05. www.caravanforkids.org The State of Our Schools: How are we doing? In May of 2006, CEPS and the Santa Monica Malibu PTA Council partnered again to present The State of Our Schools, a report to the community on student achievement and the financial health of the Santa Monica Malibu public schools. The program was presented once in Santa Monica at the new Main Public Library and then again in Malibu. CEPS hopes to make this community report an annual event. Community Organizations Louise is a member of or contributor to the following local organizations: Church in Ocean Park Community for Excellent Public Schools Connections for Children Friends of 415 PCH Friends of Sunset Park Friends of the Santa Monica Public Library Heal the Bay LULAC Malibu Democratic Club Ocean Park Community Center Samohi PTSA Santa Monica College Associates Santa Monica College General Advisory Board Santa Monica Conservancy Santa Monica Democratic Club Santa Monica Historical Society Santa Monica League of Women Voters Santa Monica Lifelong Learning Community Project Santa Monica Lions Club Santa Monica Malibu Council of PTAs Santa Monica Malibu Education Foundation Santa Monica Violence Prevention Coalition Santa Monica YMCA Santa Monica/Westside YWCA Santa Monicans for Renters Rights St. Joseph's Center Teen Parenting Program Westside Food Bank Lifelong Learning Louise has a BA in Biology from Antioch College and has, since graduation, taken classes at UCLA Extension (and taught there), Santa Monica College, West LA Community College, and Cal State Northridge. Prior to marriage and raising a family here in Santa Monica, she traveled extensively. She works in film, television, and education.

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