Two Democrats are vying for their party’s nomination to run against Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger this November.

State Treasurer Phil Angelides, a former real-estate developer, is running as the "Anti-Arnold" and has the backing of numerous politicians and unions. State Controller Steve Westly, who earned a fortune as an early executive of eBay, says education is his top priority. p> This week, Voz will examine and compare the two candidates’ positions on education.

Education

Angelides says his first act as governor will be to roll back college tuition and fees. In addition, he promises to award 10,000 new scholarships for math and science, and double the number of public school counselors helping students about college.

It is a fallacy to assume that we can maintain economic growth if we "disregard investments in human capital," according to Angelides.

Westly, a former professor at Stanford, says he will make education his top priority, including making community college free to any student who transfers to a four-year university or completes a degree within five years. Additionally, he supports fully funding all schools, making preschool universal, and increasing local control for school districts.

Additionally, in an interview with La Voz, Westly promised to work to "break the oligopoly" of campus bookstores, noting that books often cost as much as classes for many students.

He suggested that students could buy digital copies of the books or buy and sell books amongst themselves.

Westly says he took classes at both Canada and Foothill Community Colleges.