Youngsters in a California classroom. (Photo: Monkey Business Images, via Shutterstock)OPINION: The clock is ticking for our kids. Within a few weeks, The State Board of Education will determine many K-12 school accountability provisions in our education system for decades to come.
A youngster on a visit to the dentist. (Photo: Wavebreakmedia, via Shuttetstock.)Jim Wood tells a story about teeth that makes him smile. Wood — a dentist and a state assemblyman from Sonoma County — remembers the time a patient of his who was an elementary school teacher told him about a student suffering from serious dental problems. The little girl’s family was poor and they lived in a rural area. They couldn’t find a dentist to treat her. The family lived too far for them to travel to Wood’s office in Cloverdale. But Wood was able to find a dentist closer to their home to treat the girl.