League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Orange County, CA March 2, 2004 Election
	Chonchol D. Gupta Answers Questions Candidate for Member of the State Assembly; District 70; Republican Party

Read the answers from all candidates.

Questions & Answers

1. What does California need to do to address the current budget crisis?

Returning California to a business friendly state by getting rid of outrageous workers compensation insurance premiums will make it easier for both small and big businesses alike to hire more employees. We can end our reliance on foreign labor and return jobs to Californians.

Another way to curb our economy's deficit is to halt illegal immigration. Although our nation's immigration policy should be handled by the Federal Government, billions of our states tax dollars are being used when our Federal Government fails to enforce border policies.One way of accomplishing this, is to require the illegal immigrants who are working in our state to pay their fair share of income tax. The Federal Government has made it illegal for companies to hire illegal aliens, yet undocumented workers continue to work, and send billions of dollars of untaxed money out of our state annually. By giving California Tax Identification numbers to all people in California- legal and illegal, we can start to pay for the bill the Federal Government has left us with.
This system would not give a visa to illegal immigrants. What it would do is give the undocumented workers in California a way to pay their fair share of taxes. A California Tax Id Number system would cut down on the number of stolen Social Security numbers, and provide an alternative to Gray Davis' plan of giving all illegal immigrants California Drivers Licenses.

2. What should the state's priorities be for K-12 education? For the Community College System?

I first decided to run for State Assembly when some of my schoolmates could not continue their higher education because the University of California increased its' annual tuition by nearly $1,500. There is no reason that students should have to give up all the hard work and studious hours they invested through high school and through college, just because our state government can not correctly balance a budget. Our school system should remain great regardless of the state of our economy! More control needs to be given to our local school districts so the needs of each school and each teacher can be accurately addressed, so that no student gets left behind due to bureaucracy. When we utilize the full potential of our school system, we will produce strong and technically able students, thus creating a business industry that has competent and able employees.

As the son of a teacher and a product of California public schools, I have seen first hand the dilapidated state of our education system. The California State Government has stripped virtually all autonomy away from local schools and districts, forcing them to compete with one another for money and benefits. Our schools should not be run as horses on a race track. We should not leave any school behind. This requires that the state return some decision making to local districts and schools. California is currently basing the effectiveness of a school on its children's performance on standardized tests. We must stop this destructive habit and realize that teachers across our county and across California cannot simultaneously and effectively educate our diverse group of students, and prepare them for one standardized test that will determine the amount of money that school will receive.