Next 'Brews and Views:'
Who: Don Perata, former California State Senate president pro tempore
What: discussion of state politics
When: 6 to 8 p.m., Feb. 4
Where: beer garden inside Half Moon Bay Brewing Co., 390 Capistrano Rd.

With budget constraints squeezing schools statewide, and Cabrillo Unified School District mulling a new parcel tax to balance expenditures, education reform is a hot topic on the minds of Coastside parents, educators and politicians. That was evident Thursday night, when a slew of Coastside dignitaries and residents gathered under the tent at Half Moon Bay Brewing Co. to air the issues and toss around ideas for revamping the system.

Part lecture, part community discussion, the second "Brews and Views" event drew in a crowd of about 40 listeners and vocal participants, including Half Moon Bay Mayor Marina Fraser, CUSD Superintendent Rob Gaskill, Half Moon Bay City Councilman Rick Kowalczyk, San Mateo County Board of Supervisors candidate April Vargas and a handful of Coastside policy activists. The event, a forum where people can get together and discuss politically charged topics in a casual setting, is becoming a monthly installment at the Princeton restaurant.

"I think it's wonderful for people to have dialogue, not only with experts but with each other, beyond news talk radio,' Fraser said. "At the heart of the (discussion) it's about community and not just politics. These are issues that affect our daily lives. This is a great opportunity for people to get involved and educated."

Fraser said she plans to attend every Brews and Views her schedule allows.

Ted Lempert, a former state assemblyman and president of the Oakland-based advocacy organization Children Now, led an impassioned discussion about the political underpinnings of the state's public education system. Clearly unhappy with the status quo, Lempert lamented before the attentive crowd his "biggest frustration:" the hypocrisy of Assembly members who bemoan a broken education system, then shy away from supporting curative legislation.

Lempert called education politics in Sacramento a "screwed up mess," but conceded that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's pledge in State of the State Address the day before, to make education "a priority," put him in a better mood.

Closer to home, Lempert called San Mateo County a "poster child for the lack of (education) equity," pointing to the fact that well-funded school districts are adjacent to struggling ones. He pointed to a public school funding partnership between CUSD and the city of Half Moon Bay as an example other cities should follow moving forward.

When Gaskill stood up to take his shot at education politicking in the state, microphone in-hand, he first thanked Half Moon Bay Brewing Co. Co-owner Lenny Mendonca for bringing the forum to fruition.

"It's something we've needed on the coast for a long time," Gaskill said.