Learn About Louise Jaffe, Education Advocate



		About Louise PTA Louise has lived in Santa Monica for almost 25 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 has worked closely with PTA leaders from all Santa Monica and Malibu public schools and continues to serve as an officer on the Santa Monica Malibu Council of PTAs as a liaison to Santa Monica College. 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 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) This contractual agreement between the city of Santa Monica and the school district reset relations. Today the City of Santa Monica provides SMMUSD with $7.5 million annually and the two government institutions work together closely to ensure our children are offered a high quality public education. 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. Working with PTA and the school district, CEPS has made this community report an annual event. Santa Monica College Trustee Elected in 2006, Louise has worked diligently to be a well-informed, responsive and responsible trustee. Selected by her fellow trustees to serve as Chair in 2009, her priority was to maintain a thoughtful, deliberative, respectful, and inclusive decision-making process for the board and the college despite the turbulence of the State budget crisis. During her first term, the board, working with the Associated Students and the Big Blue Bus, established Any Line, Any Time, a free bus pass for all SMC students and staff. Any Line, Any Time has been a huge success, improving air quality and transit services for students and residents while reducing traffic and parking problems. As a trustee, Louise has supported new initiatives in greening the campus and the curriculum, and in introducing global citizenship across the curriculum. Her focus is on student success and the fiscal responsibility that is essential to ensuring the continued health and vitality of SMC. Louise has also encouraged partnerships with the school district, the cities of Santa Monica and Malibu and the county as well as with local non-profit organizations. She takes great pride and pleasure in the beautiful new Broad Stage and the extraordinary creative benefits it provides our community. On July 6th, SMC received notice that it’s accreditation was reaffirmed. The Accreditation Report states “Santa Monica College... is experiencing a renaissance of creativity and constructive collaboration. The college culture values innovation, originality, and student-centeredness.” Louise is proud to help serve, support, and lead SMC. UCLA Doctoral Student To deepen and expand her knowledge and usefulness as a trustee, Louise has enrolled as a doctoral student in UCLA’s Educational Leadership Program. The program requires delving into current research and practice with a cohort group of education professionals from across the spectrum of public and private education, from preschool to university. The coursework, reading, and research that Louise is doing at UCLA provides her with additional insight and knowledge about learning, teaching and American education, strengthening her skills as a trustee for SMC. State Leadership To further assist Santa Monica College, Louise has stepped up to work with fellow trustees at the state level. She was elected to the California Community College Trustees (CCCT) Board of Directors in 2010 having previously served on the CCCT Legislative Committee. As a member of the CCCT Board and as a representative of SMC, Louise makes the time to go to Sacramento, to meet with legislators and to give personal testimony of behalf of California’s community colleges and SMC. She was invited to moderated a session on “Jobs, Jobs, Jobs: Rebuilding California’s Workforce” at the 2010 Community College League of California Annual Legislative Conference, and served as a member of the Sustainable Transportation Track Planning Group for the 2010 Higher Education Sustainability Conference. 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 the Santa Monica Public Library Heal the Bay 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 History Musuem 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/Westside YWCA Santa Monicans for Renters Rights Venice Family Clinic Westside Family Health Center Westside Food Bank Will Rogers PTA Lifelong Learning Louise has a BA in Biology from Antioch College and has taken classes at UCLA Extension (and taught there), Santa Monica College, West LA Community College, and Cal State Northridge. She is currently working toward a doctorate at UCLA in the Educational Leadership Program. Prior to marrying and raising a family here in Santa Monica, she traveled extensively. She works in film, television, and education.