SACRAMENTO, Calif. /California Newswire/ — On Friday (June 4), Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the following appointments to the Academic Content Standards Commission:
Steven Dunlap, 30, of Riverside, has served the Riverside Unified School District since 2005, most recently as an elementary school teacher since 2007, intern elementary teacher from 2006 to 2007 and long-term substitute teacher from 2005 to 2006. He has worked for Highland Elementary School as an instructional technology site specialist since 2008 and a data director site trainer since 2007. Dunlap earned a Master of Science degree in education from California Baptist University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in social science from Simpson University. Dunlap is registered decline-to-State.
Williamson Evers, 61, of Laguna Niguel, has served as a research fellow and member of the Koret Task Force on K-12 education for the Hoover Institution at Stanford University since 1988. From 2007 to 2009, he was assistant secretary of policy for the U. S. Department of Education and senior adviser to the U.S. Secretary of Education in 2007. In 2003, Evers was senior adviser for education to Administrator L. Paul Bremer, Coalition Provisional Authority, Iraq for the U. S. Department of Defense and, from 1996 to 1998, was commissioner for the California State Commission for the Establishment of Academic Content and Performance Standards. Evers is a member of the National Advisory Council, Bill of Rights Institute. He is a former member of the Instructional Materials Review Committee for the Capistrano Unified School District, an external consultant and member-at-large for the Social Sciences-History Textbook Selection Committee for the Palo Alto Unified School District, reviewer of grant proposals for the Mathematics and Science Review Panel, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education and a member of the Content Review Panel for History-Social Science K-8 Textbook Adoption for the state of California. Evers earned a Doctorate of Philosophy in political science, a Master of Arts in political science and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Stanford University. Evers is a Republican.
Mark Freathy, 55, of Elk Grove, has worked as a math teacher and math department chair for the Elk Grove Unified School District since 1989. From 1986 to 1989, he was a special day class teacher at Don Lugo High School and vice principal at Ramona Jr. High School in the Chino Unified School District. Freathy is a member of the California Mathematics Council and the California League of Middle Schools. He earned a Master of Education degree in educational administration from the University of Utah and a Bachelor of Arts degree in special education from Michigan State University, East Lansing. Freathy is a Republican.
Lori Lin Freiermuth, 40, of Chula Vista, has been a teacher for the Sweetwater Union High School District since 2000, at Olympian High School since 2008, Southwest High School from 2001 to 2008 and Castle Park High School from 2000 to 2001. Previously, she was a teacher for the San Diego Unified School District from 1999 to 2000, the Meramec Valley R-III School District from 1993 to 1999 and the Missouri Eastern Correctional Center from 1997 to 1999. Freiermuth is a member of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics. She earned a Master of Science degree in education from National University and a Bachelor of Science degree in secondary education from the University of Missouri, St. Louis. Freiermuth is registered decline-to-state.
Gregory Geeting, 57, of Sacramento, has served as Area 1 trustee for the Sacramento County Board of Education since 2008. Previously, he worked for the California Department of Education as consultant and interim director for the Charter Schools Division from 2005 to 2007, assistant to the deputy superintendent from 2003 to 2005, consultant for curriculum frameworks and instructional resources from 1998 to 1999, consultant from 1988 to 1992 and legislative coordinator and chief of school apportionments from 1981 to 1984. Additionally, Geeting worked for the State Board of Education as assistant executive director from 1999 to 2003, executive director and assistant executive director from 1992 to 1998 and executive director from 1987 to 1988. He was director of expenditure forecasting for the California Commission on State Finance from 1984 to 1987, a consultant for education and general government for the Senate Committee on Finance from 1978 to 1981 and legislative and administrative assistant in the Office of Senator Albert S. Rodda from 1974 to 1977. Geeting is a member of the California School Boards Association, California Association of Teachers of English, Learning Disabilities Association of America and former member of the Association of California School Administrators. He earned a Master of Public Administration degree from University of San Francisco and a Bachelor of Arts degree in speech communication from California State University, Sacramento. Geeting is a Democrat.
Jeanne Jelnick, 49, of Aliso Viejo, has been an English teacher at University High School since 1984. She is a member of the Pink Ribbon Club Foundation. Jelnick was recognized as an Orange County Teacher of the Year for 2010. She earned a Master of Arts in English and a Bachelor of Arts in English from University of California, Irvine. Jelnick is a Democrat.
Deborah Keys, 54, of Fairfield, has worked as an administrator III for Oakland Unified School District since 2005. Previously, she was executive director of the middle schools network for Oakland Unified School District from 2002 to 2005. From 1999 to 2002, Keys was an education program consultant for the California Department of Education, Curriculum Frameworks and Instructional Resources Division. She was principal of Leroy F. Greene Middle School in Natomas Unified School District from 1993 to 1999. Keys was interim principal of Albert Einstein Middle School in the Sacramento City Unified School District from 1992 to 1993 and vice principal from 1990 to 1992. She is a member of the Association of California School Administrators, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Phi Delta Kappa, National Alliance of Black School Educators and Voices for African American Students. Keys earned a Master of Arts degree in teaching, English/education credential program and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from University of California, Berkeley, a Master of Arts in educational administration and a Doctor of Education in learning and instruction from the University of San Francisco. Keys is a Democrat.
James Lanich, 53, of Sacramento, has served as executive director of California State University Center to Close the Achievement since 2009. Previously, he was president of California Business for Education Excellence from 2005 to 2009 and president of Just For the Kids-California from 2000 to 2005. From 1993 to 2000, Lanich was assistant superintendent for Core Curriculum and Standards Services. He is a member of the National Assessment Governing Board and the California State Board African Advisory Committee. Lanich earned a Doctorate of Philosophy in education from University of Southern California, a Master of Arts degree in education from California State University, Los Angeles and a Bachelor of Science degree in biological sciences from University of California, Irvine. Lanich is a Democrat.
Brian Shay, 32, of San Diego, has been a mathematics teacher at Canyon Crest Academy High School in the San Dieguito Union High School District since 2004 and an adjunct mathematics instructor at San Diego Mesa College and Grossmont Community College since 2003. He was a mathematics teacher at La Costa Canyon High School from 2002 to 2004 and at River City High School from 2001 to 2002. Shay is a member of the California Teacher Advisory Council, Greater San Diego Math Council, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and Mathematics Association of America. He earned a Master of Arts degree and Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from State University of New York, Potsdam. Additionally, Shay earned a Master of Arts degree in teaching and mathematics from University of California, Davis. Shay is a Democrat.
Lorena Sweeney, 40, of Mission Viejo, has been an English language development (ELD)/Spanish instructor and ELD advisor for the Capistrano Unified School District since 1998. She was a bilingual paraprofessional for the Laguna Beach Unified School District from 1993 to 1996. Sweeney earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from University of Costa Rica. Sweeney is not registered.
Ze’ev Wurman, 60, of Palo Alto, has served as chief software architect for NuPGA since 2009. Previously, he was advisor to the U.S. Department of Education from 2007 to 2009. Wurman was vice president of software at eASIC from 1999 to 2006, director of software at DynaChip from 1994 to 1999 and principal engineer at Amdahl from 1989 to 1993. From 1985 to 1989, he was manager at Silvar Lisco and, from 1982 to 1985, was a research staff member for IBM Research in Haifa, Israel. Wurman is a member of the Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers, Association for Computing Machinery and National Association of Scholars. He earned a Master of Science degree in engineering and a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Technion, Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel. Wurman is registered decline-to-state.
These positions do not require Senate confirmation and there is no salary.
Earlier this week, Governor Schwarzenegger issued a statement regarding the Academic Content Standards Commission and Common Core State Standards.
The Academic Content Standards Commission was established by SBX5 1 by Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) to evaluate the national Common Core State Standards for statewide adoption and to make a recommendations to the California State Board of Education on any adjustments necessary to ensure that California’s rigorous standards are maintained.
