Table Of Content

California State Archives State Government Oral History Program Oral History Interview with Virginia Strom Martin California State Assemblywoman 1996 2002 August 18 2003 September9 2003 Sacramento California By Patrick Ettmger DepartmentofHistory California State University Sacramento TABLE OF CONTENTS INTERVIEW HISTORY i BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY ii SESSION 1 August 18 2003 [Tape 1 Side A] 1 Family background- early lifeand schooling inPetaluma - university education at UC Davis and UC Berkeley- campus politics in 1960s - mother sunion activity - influential teachers - involvement in campus politics and political organizing atBerkeley - study inPans France- earning a teaching credential at Sonoma State University [Tape 1 Side B] 23 First years ofteaching at Wright Elementary in Santa Rosa- classroom management issues - innovative learning strategies- early involvement with California Teachers Association (CTA)- collective bargaining and contract negotiations in her district- election to CTA state council- liaison activities with AssemblymanDanHauserandRepresentativeLynnWoolsey- trainingprograms ofCTA and National Education Association (NEA)- involvement in Democratic Party politics - decision to run forDan Hauser sAssembly seat - Democratic primaryinMarch 1996- importanceofteacherstocampaign- courtingpolitical support- general election campaign [Tape 2 Side A] 46 Issues in the general election campaign- support oflabor- endorsements- characteristics ofAssembly District 1- first term in office- creation ofthe Rural EconomicDevelopmentCommittee- earlycommitteeassignments- hiring staff - challengesofthe transitionintotheLegislature- importanceofrelationships- battleswithGovernorPeteWilson onstandardizedtesting- all nightAssembly session on standardized testing - bills toplace telephone m classrooms [Tape 2 Side B] 68 State funding for background checks- budget woes ofrural counties - Rural Economic Development Committee Heanngs - SB 939 on wastewater- Jackson StateDemonstrationForest- balancingeconomicdevelopmentand environmental issues- importance oforganizing locally before promotingstate legislation- originsoftheHeadwaters Forestcontroversy- maintaining visibility mthe district- impressions ofGovernor Wilson - re election campaign m 1998 SESSION 2 September9 2003 [Tape 3 Side A] 86 Politicalactivismasanadolescent- involvement m 1971 BillKortumcampaign - GovernorGrayDavis andeducationreform- supportforpeer review and textbookadoptionfunding- highschoolexitexambill- AssemblyEducation Committee- working with Gary Hart - district attitudes toward educationreform - roleofbusinesscommunityinreforms - Assembly Bill961 (lowperforming schools) - educators teaching to the test [Tape 3 Side B] 106 Fundingforschoolconstruction- riseofemergencycredentials- battleover Assemblybill 2160- visionofteacherempowerment- revision ofthe Master PlanforEducation- effectofenergycrisisonAssembly- telecommunications bills [Tape 4 Side A] 126 Healthcare inruraldistricts - efforts onbehalfofmdustnalhemp- JointFisheries Committeework- commercial fishing interests vs logginginterests- relations with Native American groups - transgemc fish- effects ofterm limits - Women s Caucus INTERVIEW HISTORY Interviewer Patrick Ettinger Assistant Professor History Department California State University Sacramento Assistant Director Capital Campus Oral History Program CSUS B A University ofNotre Dame M A and Ph D Indiana University Interview Times and Places August 18 2003 Session oftwo hours September9 2003 Session ofone and one halfhours Allsessionstookplace inStrom Martin sofficeattheCaliforniaUnemployment Insurance Appeals Board in Sacramento Editing Deborah Lattimore ofTechniType Transcripts transcnbed the interview audiotapes PatrickEttingercheckedtheverbatimmanuscnpt ofthe interview againstthe originaltaperecordingsandeditedforpunctuation paragraphing and spelling Ettinger preparedthe table ofcontents biographicalsummary andinterviewhistory AssemblywomanStrom Martineditedthetranscript clanfying somepassages and making minor corrections She also verified proper names Papers Virginia Strom Martin s papers are locatedat the California StateArchives Tapes and Interview Records The original tape recordings ofthe interview are inthe university archives at CSU Sacramento Master tapes are preservedat the California StateArchives BIOGRAPHICAL SUMMARY Virginia Strom Martin was bom on March 29 1948 in SantaRosa Califomia and raised in Sonoma County Aftei graduatingfrom PetalumaHigh School m 1966 she earned a B A in Art from the University ofCalifornia Berkeley m 1970 She eamed her teaching credential from Sonoma State University one yearlaterand worked as an elementary school teacher for 24years Shetaught at Wright Elementary School in Santa Rosa from 1972 to 1996 and was active in boththe CaliforniaTeachers Association and National Education Association Strom Martin was first elected as aDemocrat to the State Assembly m 1996 During her tenure m the Assembly she servedon the Water Parks and Wildlife Committee Appropriations Committee Transportation Committee Education Committee Health Committee and others She chaired the EducationCommittee from 2001 to2002 the Joint Legislative Committee onFishenes and Aquaculture from 1999 to2002 and the Select Committee onRural Economic Development from 1997to 2001 She was the vice chair for both the School BondConference Committee and the Joint Committee to Develop a Master Plan for Education As a member ofthe Assembly Strom Martin authored bills relating to education the environment economic development and telecommunications In February2003 Governor GrayDavis appointed Strom Martin to serve afour yeartermontheCalifornia Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board Shewasservingm that position at the time ofthese interviews 11 [Session 1 August 18 2003] [Begin Tape 1 Side A] ETTINGER Today is August IS"* 2003 This isProfessor PatnckEttinger from Cal State University Sacramento I m sitting in the offices offormer Assemblywoman Virginia Strom Martin who s graciouslyagreed to participate in our oral histones to provide her oral history forthe StateGovernment Oral HistoryProject Virginia could you perhapsjuststart by telling me when and where you were bom'^ STROMMARTIN Iwasbom inSantaRosa inCalifornia SonomaCounty 1948 March 29"' ETTINGER And your family haspretty deeproots in northem Califomia Could you tell me a little bit about thaf^ STROMMARTIN Right Yes Bothmyparentswerebom in Actually mydad was bom inMinneapolis but that was an anomaly On my dad s side I ve got five generations on my mother s two ETTINGER In Santa Rosa themselves'^ STROM MARTIN Well northcoast primarily onmydad s sideespecially My great great grandparents met mEureka in the 1850s They were part ofthe pioneer movement and they married mEureka in 1860 ThePerrysandtheBryants Infact mygreat great grandfather hadawholecityblockthatwascalledPerry s Comer atthetime there and owned property was involved in timber not surprisingly at the time AndtheBryant CharlesBryant who ismygreat great grandfather actually worked for the postal service at the time and delivered mailfrom Eurekadownto Ibelieve Fortuna So yes deep roots Andthenthetwopeoplethat didmarry endeduphaving about eight children They migrated down the coast to San Franciscoandlateronto Petaluma wheremygreat grandmother wasbom Shewasoneofeight Iwasveryclosewithher She was bom in Petalumain 1874 She told me a lot ofstories obviously as a young child and she died when I was a senior in highschool soIgottoknowherquitewell In fact herdaughter whowasmyrealgrandmother diedtheyearbeforeI wasbom So inessence mygreatgrandmother wasmyrealgrandmother that I identified with so yes I learned a lot about her history and the history ofthe family And then Ihad a great aunt who actually did a genealogy which was quite interesting One ofher [great grandmother s] brothers was real active in the GoldRush in Alaska Her husband whose name was Oliver Clay Hopkins was an insurance agent whocommutedfromPetalumato SanFrancisco every dayforover forty years He held acommuting record And ofcourse he didit by tram and by ferrybefore the Golden Gate Bridgewas built in thethirties SoI evenhave to thisday somenewspaper articles commemorating his thirty fifthand his fortieth anniversary of commuting ETTINGER Andnowthat sconsiderednothing Everybody doesthat commute righf^ Backthen thatwasanamazingthing STROM MARTIN Well especiallybytramandferry youknow And he workedm downtownSanFranciscomthefinancialdistrict He was quitea character ETTINGER Tellmeaboutyourparents directly WhatdidtheydomSanta Rosa*? STROM MARTIN Well mydad and mothermetattheSantaRosa Junior College right afterthewar My dadwasmWorldWarII inthe Philippines andNew Guinea So he met my motherthere at the Junior College and they were latermarried They both became students at San Francisco StateCollege My father was a sociology major andmy mother was going to be majoring ineducation Ibelieve but then ofcourse she got pregnant and had me Actually I guess at the time that I was bom they were living at the mamed students housing at the San Francisco State campus ButI endedup being bom in SantaRosa because my mother and dadwere visiting her mother at the time staying there with her But my father ended up teaching For awhile I guess he was a social worker in the Sonoma County area but thenhe ended up teaching He startedhis teaching career m a two room schoolhouse in Two Rock which isjust a little bit north of Petaluma you know areal ranching and dairy farming area And so he started his teaching careerthere Later on my motherwent backto school completed her bachelorofarts degree andwhen I was seven she started teaching And she taught at a very small school in rural Petaluma So anyway then ofcourse they continued and both ofthem became careerteachers My father taught thirty one years mostly for the PetalumaUnified School District and then my mother taught for the Cotati Rohnert Park Unified School Distnct for thirty four years So both parents were career teachers ETTINGER You were living in Santa Rosa"^ STROM MARTIN I was actually bom in Santa Rosa but after the San Francisco State move they moved toPetaluma SoI really did grow up in Petaluma from the time I was about two ETTINGER And where did you go to school there in Petaluma*^ STROM MARTIN Iwent toMcNear Elementary School and then Petaluma Junior High and then Petaluma SeniorHigh School ETTINGER So you didn thave your parents as teachers'^ STROM MARTIN No I didn t but later on I substituted in their classes ETTINGER Oh really'? STROM MARTIN BeforeIactuallygotmycredential yes Interesting ETTINGER Didyouhavesiblings orextendedfamilyaround"? STROM MARTIN My brother my only brother was bom when I was fourteen That was kind ofa shockto everyone ETTINGER You weren t at home much when he was STROM MARTIN Well Iwashomeforaboutfouryears andthenI went offto college But we re quite close nevertheless ETTINGER Whenyougotintohighschool Iassumeyoudidfairlywellasa student