Christopher Cabaldon — Called as present for quorum.
Christopher Cabaldon — Called to vote on items 11 through 17.
Christopher Cabaldon — Called during the roll call on items 11 through 17.
Christopher Cabaldon — Called to vote on items 6 through 10.
Christopher Cabaldon — Praised ODI as a small but effective innovation program.
Christopher Cabaldon — Thanked the chair and referenced questions about long-term financing and self-supporting operations.
Christopher Cabaldon — Referenced as having been pursuing the issue being discussed.
Lola Smallwood-Cuevas — Lola Smallwood-Cuevas asks for clarification on the LAO’s duplication critique and wants to understand what specific gap the Learning Lab fills that is not already being addressed by other higher education efforts.
Lola Smallwood-Cuevas — Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas is called present for quorum, and then her name appears in the subsequent procedural handling of motions and roll calls on multiple item groups, including items 11 through 17 and items 6 through 10, with some transcript name variations likely due to transcription errors.
Lola Smallwood-Cuevas — Likely the senator speaking about the digital divide and a personal example from South L.A.
Lola Smallwood-Cuevas — The speaker references Senator Smallwood-Cuevas's question about the budget change proposal and operations funding.
Dr. Whithouse — Cited as an example of a project with broad scale and many faculty and student participants.
Unidentified witness — Described how the Learning Lab's scale changes faculty practice and affects 12,000 students.
Professor Carl Wickhouse, UC Davis — Introduced himself and said he would address long-term longitudinal impact evaluation of Learning Lab projects.
Justin Howard — Introduced himself as Deputy Secretary for fiscal and administrative services at the Government Operations Agency and presented the Office of Civil Rights proposal.
AB715 — Cited as one of the measures the proposal would implement.
AB715 — Identified as having taken effect on January 1 and requiring district compliance.
SB48 — Cited as one of the measures the proposal would implement.
SB48 — First explicit bill reference in this section; discussed in relation to implementation and coordinator responsibilities.
Alexander Bents — LAO representative who said the proposal raised no concerns and simply implements recent legislation.
Maggy Krell — Senator Maggy Krell, speaking in the same exchange, says she serves on the CTC board and is not convinced by the argument being made. She continues to express skepticism while acknowledging that the issue is still ongoing, framing the discussion as part of a broader unresolved debate.
Danielle Brandon — Department of Finance representative who said she could not speak to the Subcommittee 1 proposal and that GovOps is currently the best place for these entities.
Joe Patterson — Senator Joe Patterson is referenced in an ongoing exchange that centers on his horse-and-cart metaphor. The discussion appears to continue with him being recognized by name and then mentioned again in a garbled follow-up reference, all within the same broader conversation and without a significant shift in topic.
Melissa Hurtado — Senator Melissa Hurtado was called as present for quorum and then repeatedly called during roll calls on agenda items 11 through 17 and 6 through 10, responding with 'Aye' when her vote was requested.
Valerie Johnson — Testified in support of the Governor's budget request for the Office of the California Education Interagency Council.
AB1098 — Cited as legislation Edge supported that established the council.
SB638 — Cited as legislation Edge supported that established the council.
Jeffrey Marino — Director of the California Office of Data and Innovation; presented the department's budget request and mission.
John Laird — Raised interest in the Senate’s new privacy committee and discussed the limits of notice-and-consent privacy approaches.
Mark Monroe — Identified himself as Deputy Director for the Middle Mile Broadband Initiative at CDT and introduced the project overview.
Deputy Miles Burnett — Noted as being present to speak more broadly about CDT's budget.
SB156 — Cited as the legislation that established the Middle Mile Broadband Initiative.
SB156 — The speaker discusses SB 156 as the statute that required CDT to contract with a third-party administrator, noting that the bill included specific requirements for that administrator.
SB156 — The speaker cites SB 156 as the legislation that funded the project so capital costs do not need to be recovered.
Brian Bender — Identified himself as representing the Department of Finance and said he had nothing to add but was available for questions.
Sabrina Cervantes — Referenced as having previously raised reasons why the project is critical.
Miles Burnett — Introduces himself as Chief Administrative Officer for the California Department of Technology and presents the CalTabs modernization project.
Ryan Bender — Represents the Department of Finance and says he has nothing to add, but is available for questions.
Kayla Lamb — Department of Finance representative says there is nothing to add and is available for questions.
Kayla Lamb — Department of Finance representative who said there was nothing to add and was available for questions.
Natalie Gonzalez — Legislative Analyst's Office representative recommends rejecting the Governor's proposal to retain the Learning Lab.
Kayla Lamon, Department of Finance — Explains that placing the Learning Lab under GovOps provides cohesion, oversight, and alignment with higher education and workforce priorities.
Bill Essayli — Speaker refers to their time in the Assembly, implying a prior legislative role.
Christopher Cabaldon — Christopher Cabaldon argues that the Learning Lab is intended to spark, test, and scale breakthrough innovations across segments, and that he disagrees with the LAO analysis criticizing it. He says existing community college funding formulas and routine professional development do not create the needed incentives or cross-institutional coordination, pointing to persistently low completion rates and fragmented faculty development. He emphasizes that discipline-specific conferences and isolated institutional efforts are insufficient for systemwide innovation, while the Learning Lab can help evaluate, deploy, and translate successful ideas into policy and classroom change. Cabaldon concludes that the program is a worthwhile investment, respected by faculty, and especially valuable for less-established segments that need access to research, resources, and collaborative innovation.
Carl Whithouse — Carl Whithouse introduces himself as the director of the California Education Learning Lab and a UC Davis professor of rhetoric and writing. He explains his involvement in an AI Grand Challenge / writing-and-AI collaboration and describes how the grant has created sustained opportunities for faculty across the state to work together, share deliverables, and support student learning and workforce-oriented skills.