Aug 02, 2010
STAR ADVERTISER
Fishpond protected by law may yet be sold
The DOT might use an older law to help in auctioning the land
By Andrew Gomes

“Rep. Lyla Berg (D, Kuliouou-Niu Valley-Aina Haina), said it would be unfortunate if DOT, which did not testify on HB 1665, obtained the votes to sell the land HB 1665 intended to protect from being sold. ‘It’s an inconvenience for the DOT,” she said. ‘I think they need to think a little bit more creatively. State government needs to open up their arms and their eyes and embrace the private resources that are out there.’” More

MEDIA RELEASE

REPRESENTATIVE LYLA BERG TO ATTEND WHITEHOUSE TASK FORCE
MEETING ON CLIMATE CHANGE
Berg Is One Of Two Delegates From Hawai`i To The Association of Pacific Island Legislators

HONOLULU: JULY 9, 2010 — Hawai`i State Representative Lyla Berg will be attending today’s special meeting of President Obama’s Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force Public Meeting at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawai`i. Berg is one of the two Delegates to the Association of Pacific Island Legislators representing Hawai`i and other Pacific island nations. U.S. Senator Dan Inouye is expected toattend and the event will be broadcast &streamed live to an international audience. More

Like so many people who will be voting this year, I don’t know too much about you. You have perhaps the lowest media profile of any of the major candidates for LG.

It’s because I’m not a career politician. I’m an educator, a single mother, an activist. I perform, I’m involved in the arts.

At the same time, politics are in everything, so having to navigate through the worlds of education and the arts has allowed me to see what’s going on across the state, and feel connected to communities across Hawaii. That’s why I ran for the state House in 2004. Read More

Representative Lyla Berg is a single mother and educator who had to prepare nourishing and interesting meals for her son, Ka’ohukauikala’i, while attending to her own professional responsibilities and personal interests. She offers a favorite recipe of raspberry shrimp with jasmin rice.

She has been the Representative for the 18th District, which serves the Kahala/Aina Haina areas, since 2004. As a teacher, vice-principal, and principal, Representative Berg has a strong commitment to education, building stronger communities and diversity.

As the first candidate to run for Lt. Governor, Representative Berg has a strong vision for the keiki and education as well as provide jobs for the local people. Let us all enjoy this simple recipe of hers and share her spirit for the well-being of the Aloha State.

Ingredients:

2 c jasmine rice, uncooked

1 stick cinnamon

12-16 medium sized shrimp, uncooked

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 Tbsp butter, melted

1 tsp crushed garlic

1/4 c raspberry salad dressing

Preparation:

Soak Jasmine rice in cold water for one hour before cooking.

Boil water in a pot, no more than 3/4 full. Add soaked rice, without excess water. Add cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Boil for 10-15 minutes, or until rice is tender.

Drain cooked rice in a colander. Run cold water through the rice while in the colander to cool the rice down and stop the cooking process. \

Continue cooking rice in one of the two following ways:

1. Place the rice in a casserole dish, covered in aluminum foil, and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Sprinkle a bit of cold water over the rice before baking.
2. Return the rice to the pot, sprinkle a bit of cold water over the top, place a clean cloth between the pot and lid, and leave on low heat for 20-30 minutes.

In a medium bowl, mix together the salt, pepper, butter, garlic, dressing, and shrimp. Allow to marinate for 10-15 minutes.

Using a deep non-stick pan on medium heat, stir-fry the shrimp for a few minutes. Be careful not to overcook as it will become dry.

Serve shrimp and rice with a green salad on the side.

Adaptation:

If yellow rice is desired, drop 1/4 tsp turmeric powder during the initial boiling.

This is Lyla Berg, candidate for Lt. Governor, chatting with Councilman Pete Hoffmann at the Abercrombie rally in Waimea.

This lady is somebody. Read More

MEDIA RELEASE

CONTACT:
REPRESENTATIVE LYLA BERG
Cell 808-754-0044 (OAHU)

REPRESENTATIVE LYLA BERG IN DC AT SPECIAL INVITATION OF
US DOE SECRETARY ARNE DUNCAN
Gathering Of State Legislators To Focus On Reinventing
US Education Delivery & Funding

HONOLULU: JUNE 14, 2010 — Hawai`i State Representative Lyla Berg, Vice-Chair of the House Education Committee is in Washington DC to attend a special U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) State Legislator Conference on Monday, June 14, 2010. The invitation to meet directly with US DOE Secretary Arne Duncan was extended by Stacey Jordan, USDOE Director of Intergovernmental Affairs. Jordon said, “Thank you for taking time out of your extremely busy schedules … Our goal is to hear your thoughts and opinions about the work we are doing as we share with you our vision for educating the nation’s students. We will have a full day with time set aside for question-and-answer sessions so that we can experience a rich dialogue that will ultimately benefit children. We appreciate your active participation. This meeting is an opportunity to interact with Secretary Duncan and Department senior staff, to share your education vision and highlight what you are working on in your local communities.” The conference is being held in the Barnard Auditorium in the Lyndon Baines Johnson Building at the Department of Education.

Representative Berg said, “I’m particularly honored to be invited into this discussion with legislators and decision-makers from every state with the US Department of Education Secretary, Arne Duncan and his department staff. It is a full agenda, and I intend to utilize the opportunity to advocate for more funding to the states. I intend to learn how to best leverage existing and future federal funding to assist Hawai`i in recuperating from the deficiencies that occurred during this past school year because of “Furlough Fridays.” Certainly the recent national and international economic crisis has been a wake-up call for us all and, as difficult as it’s been, it presents a rare opportunity for the best minds in the nation to collaborate and focus on how to transform America’s education system for the good of all our school children.”

Representative Berg will return to Hawai`i on June, 15th and will later present her findings the the Hawai`i DOE. The trip is being personally paid for by Representative Berg.

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]]> http://lylaberg.com/?feed=rss2&p=718 0 http://lylaberg.com/?p=594 http://lylaberg.com/?p=594#comments Mon, 12 Apr 2010 23:51:32 +0000 admin http://lylaberg.com/?p=594

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - It’s a public education shake-up. Lawmakers hope to change the way the Board of Education is chosen. …

“Berg is behind two education bills in the house. Instead of electing board members, the governor would appoint them. The second bill decides who is on the board, how they’d be selected and what role the student member and the governor would play. ‘It appears to be time to restructure and re-think the Board of Education operates,’ Berg said. ‘The Board of Education is supposed to be a policy making body, not micro-managing the daily activities at a school level or in a classroom.’” View the HNN video HERE or read the transcript HERE.

OPINION
Vibrant democracy needs informed citizens
By Lyla B. Berg

… “The low participation rates of these demographics mean that their priorities will be the first to be neglected. The young people most likely to be directly affected by government policy — from the war in Iraq to the housing crunch to the lack of affordable healthcare — are also the least prepared to speak up.” …

Congress created Constitution Day in 2004 with a provision inserted into an appropriations bill, requiring all schools and universities receiving federal funding to conduct educational programs on Sept. 17 each year. This mandate offers an opportunity to reflect on our democracy — and whether we really have a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

With celebrities imploring youth to “Rock the Vote” and with youth poised to turn out in record numbers, it would be easy to assume that a golden age of youth civic engagement is upon us. Youth turnout rose in almost every state during the primaries, and news networks regularly run segments on the power of the millennials.

Yet two troubling trends underlie the increase in youth turnout. First, we risk being lulled into the false assumption that youth voting is all we need to ensure a healthy democracy. Second, the young people who do vote are disproportionately white and middle or upper class. Both these trends represent serious threats to the legitimacy of American democracy.

Active citizenship demands far more than spending a few minutes in a voting booth. To determine the health of our democracy, we need to ask more of our young people. Are they reading the newspaper? Are they discussing politics and public policy with friends, family, teachers? Are they engaged in local politics? Are they participating in community service?

Despite the signs of hope, the answer to these questions is “not enough.” On the recent National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP 2006) in civics, two-thirds of students scored below proficient. Less than a third of eighth-graders could identify the historical purpose of the Declaration of Independence, and less than a fifth of high school seniors could explain how citizen participation benefits democracy.

These findings are not surprising, given that civic education has declined steadily over the past generation. High-stakes testing and an emphasis on literacy and math dominate school reform. As a result, too many young people do not learn how our political system works, and therefore lack the tools to improve our communities and the nation through their political engagement.

The other untold side of increased youth turnout is the widening civic achievement gap. The NAEP results reveal that non-white students are twice as likely as their white counterparts to score below proficiency on national civics assessments. A similar gap exists based on a student’s economic status. This gap represents not only differences in civic knowledge, but also diverging attitudes toward government and the political process. Race and class are, therefore, key factors of citizens’ trust in government, resulting in vast disparities of civic participation.

The low participation rates of these demographics mean that their priorities will be the first to be neglected. The young people most likely to be directly affected by government policy — from the war in Iraq to the housing crunch to the lack of affordable healthcare — are also the least prepared to speak up.

This widening chasm is a significant threat to democratic ideals and practice, since we are failing to empower the poor, minority, and immigrant individuals most in need of high-quality civic learning. Without giving every citizen the tools to make his voice heard, how can we expect our national discourse to represent the values of the entirety of “We the People”?

Under the cloud of No Child Left Behind, civics has taken a back seat to reading and math, leading to the decline in civic knowledge witnessed today. This trend is especially dramatic in less-advantaged communities where the pressures of school assessment are far more acute. In order for our youngest citizens to develop civic dispositions, civic learning must be incorporated throughout students’ academic careers.

The more citizens are engaged in the government processes — from addressing issues to meeting with state legislators to volunteering on a presidential campaign — the less opportunity moneyed interests have to fill the vacuum. A democracy of activist citizens is the only way to ensure government heeds the voice: “We the People.”

Each generation must take up the mantle of its predecessors. The stakes are too high to allow us to be satisfied with a small increase in youth voter turnout. Our commitment to civic learning will determine whether or not we sustain a healthy democracy well beyond November’s election. Only through effective civic learning for every child can we create the type of informed and engaged citizens that will preserve a dynamic democracy for generations to come.

Lyla Berg is vice chairwoman of the state House education committee and is the state facilitator for the Civic Mission of Schools. She is also the state coordinator for Project Citizen with the Center for Civic Education and is the founder and former CEO of Kids Voting Hawaii. She wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.

FURLOUGH FRIDAYS

… “State Rep. Lyla Berg, vice chairwoman of the House Education Committee, says Furlough Fridays have helped crystallize the issue and could be an opportunity to build support for teachers and students. ‘The fact that we have international attention should be a motivator for us,’ said Berg, a former teacher herself and principal in Hawaii’s public schools. ‘The community is upset, they’re angry, but also really hopeful their voice will make an impact on the decision makers’ actions. That’s what’s exciting.’” … Read complete story Here