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A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to England and Wales, where comprehensive schools were introduced in 1965. It corresponds broadly to the German Gesamtschule and to the high school in the United States and Canada. About 90% of British pupils attend comprehensive schools.

Although comprehensive schools do not directly select pupils on the basis of academic ability, they may be part of a system in which selection occurs via catchment area. For example, school catchment areas containing expensive houses will be mainly populated by wealthy parents, whose children would be expected to show, on average, a high level of academic achievement at primary school. Most comprehensives are secondary schools for children between the ages of 11 to at least 19, but in a few areas there are comprehensive middle schools, and in some places the secondary level is divided into two, for students aged 11 to 14 and those aged 14 to 19, roughly corresponding to the US middle school (or junior high school) and high school, respectively.

Since a comprehensive school offers a full range of subjects across the academic and vocational spectrum, it is commonly understood that the school will need to be of a large size and to take children from a wide range of abilities. In principle, it was originally conceived as a "neighbourhood" school, which all students in its catchment area were meant to attend, irrespective of ability and without, in most cases, any significant element of parental choice.

Finland[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Finland has used comprehensive schools since the 1970s, in the sense that everyone is expected to complete the nine grades of peruskoulu, from the age 7 to 16. The division to lower comprehensive school (grades 1-6, ala-aste, alakoulu) and upper comprehensive school (grades 7-9, yläaste, yläkoulu) has been discontinued.

Germany[link]

The comprehensive school of Ludwigshafen-Oggersheim

Comprehensive schools that offer college preparatory classes[link]

Germany has a comprehensive school known as the Gesamtschule. While some German schools such as the Gymnasium and the Realschule have rather strict entrance requirements, the Gesamtschule does not have such requirements. They offer college preparatory classes for the students who are doing well, general education classes for average students, and remedial courses for those who aren't doing that well. In most cases students attending a Gesamtschule may graduate with the Hauptschulabschluss, the Realschulabschluss or the Abitur depending on how well they did in school. The percentage of students attending a Gesamtschule varies by Bundesland. In 2007 the State of Brandenburg more than 50% of all students attended a Gesamtschule,^[1] while in the State of Bavaria less than 1% did. Starting in 2010/2011 in the German States of Berlin and Hamburg Hauptschulen were merged with Realschulen and Gesamtschulen to form a new type of comprehensive school called Stadtteilschule in Hamburg and Sekundarschule in Berlin (see: Education in Berlin, Education in Hamburg). Germany's most famous Gesamtschulen are the Helene-Lange-School in Wiesbaden and the Laborschule Bielefeld.

Comprehensive schools that do not offer college preparatory classes[link]

The "Mittelschule" is a school in some States of Germany that offers regular classes and remedial classes but no college preparatory classes. In some States of Germany, the Hauptschule does not exist, and everybody who was not accepted by another school has to attend the Mittelschule. Students may be awarded the Hauptschulabschluss or the Mittlere Reife but not the Abitur.

Controversies[link]

There is some controversy about comprehensive schools. As a rule of thumb those supporting The Left Party, the Social Democratic Party of Germany and Alliance '90/The Greens are in favour of comprehensive schools, while those supporting the Christian Democratic Union and the Free Democratic Party are opposed to them.

Grade inflation[link]

Integrierte Gesamtschule Ludwigshafen-Gartenstadt

Comprehensive schools have been accused of grade inflation after a study revealed that Gymnasium senior students of average mathematical ability^[2] found themselves in the very bottom of their class and had an average grade of "Five", which means "Failed". Gesamtschule senior students of average mathematical ability found themselves in the upper half of their class and had an average grade of "Three Plus".^[3] When a central Abitur examination was established in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was revealed that Gesamtschule students did worse than could be predicted by their grades or class rank. Barbara Sommer (Christian Democratic Union), Education Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, commented that: Looking at the performance gap between comprehensives and the Gymnasium [at the Abitur central examination] [...] it is difficult to understand why the Social Democratic Party of Germany wants to do away with the Gymnasium. [...] The comprehensives do not help students achieve [...] I am sick and tired of the comprehensive schools blaming their problems on the social class origins of their students. What kind of attitude is this to blame their own students? She also called the Abitur awarded by the Gymnasium the true Abitur and the Abitur awarded by the Gesamtschule "Abitur light".^[4] As a reaction, Sigrid Beer (Alliance '90/The Greens) stated that comprehensives were structurally discriminated against by the government, which favoured the Gymnasiums. She also said that many of the students awarded the Abitur by the comprehensives came from "underprivileged groups" and sneering at their performance was a "piece of impudence".^[5]

Is the tripartite system unfair?[link]

A lot of studies discussed the fact if the German tripartite system was unfair, so that it should be given up in favour of comprehensive schools. Those studies will be discussed here and here.

Is the comprehensive school unfair?[link]

Gesamtschulen might put bright working class students at risk according to several studies. It could be shown that an achievement gap opens between working class students attending a comprehensive and their middle class peers. Also working class students attending a Gymnasium or a Realschule outperform students from similar backgrounds attending a comprehensive. However it is not students attending a comprehensive, but students attending a Hauptschule, who perform the poorest.

According to a study done by Helmut Fend (who had always been a fierce proponent of comprehensive schools) revealed that comprehensive schools do not help working class students. He compared alumni of the tripartite system to alumni of comprehensive schools. While working class alumni of comprehensive schools were rewarded better school diplomas at age 35 they held similar occupational positions than working class alumni of the tripartite system and were as unlikely to graduate from college.^[7]

According to Kurt A. Heller:

Social class divergences are exacerbated by comprehensive schools.^[8]

According to Ulrich Sprenger:

In the light of the claim of humanization of the schools the proponents of comprehensive schools always make, it is very disappointing, that the very students who would not the humanization of the schools the most and has been the main target group of the organizational and curricular innovations, do not benefit [from comprehensives]: disadvantaged students^[9]

Gibraltar[link]

Gibraltar opened its first comprehensive school in 1972. Between the ages of 12 and 16 two comprehensive schools cater for girls and boys separately. Students may also continue into the sixth form to complete their A-levels.

Ireland[link]

These schools were introduced into Ireland in 1966 by an initiative by Patrick Hillery, Minister for Education, to give a broader range of education compared to that of the vocational school system, which was then the only system of schools completely controlled by the state. Until this time education in Ireland was largely dominated by religious persuasion, and in particular the voluntary secondary school system was a particular realisation of this. The comprehensive school system is still relatively small and to an extent has been superseded by the community school concept. The Irish word for a comprehensive school is a 'scoil chuimsitheach.'

In Ireland comprehensive schools were an earlier model of State schools introduced in the late 1960s and largely replaced by the secular community model of the 1970s. The comprehensive model generally incorporated older schools that were under Roman Catholic or Protestant ownership, and the various denominations continue to manage the school as patrons or trustees. The State owns the school property, but it is vested in the trustees in perpetuity. The model was adopted to make State schools more acceptable to a largely conservative society of the time. The last proposed comprehensive school in Ireland was Gonzaga College SJ in Dublin^{[citation needed]}. However late in the negotiations the Department of Education declined to extend this model to the Society of Jesus and the proposal was dropped.

The introduction of the community school model in the 1970s controversially removed the denominational basis of the schools, though religious interests were invited to be represented on the Boards of Management. Community schools are divided into two models, the community school vested in the Minister for Education, and the community college vested in the local Vocational Education Committee. Community colleges tended to be amalgamations of unviable local schools under the umbrella of a new community school model, whereas community schools have tended to be entirely new foundations.

Sweden[link]

Sweden had used mixed-ability schools for some years before they were introduced into England and Wales, and was chosen as one of the models.

United Kingdom[link]

England and Wales[link]

Origins[link]

Before the Second World War, secondary education provision in Britain was both patchy and expensive. After the war, secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland was provided free to at least the age of 14 and managed under the Tripartite System introduced by Conservative Secretary of State for Education R.A. Butler.^[10] Children took the eleven-plus examination in their last year of primary education and were sent to secondary modern, secondary technical or grammar schools, depending on their perceived ability. In the event, technical schools were never widely implemented, and for 20 years there was a virtual bipartite system, with fierce competition for the available grammar school places, which varied between 15% and 25% of total secondary places, depending on location.

Controversy around the eleven-plus exam, together with increasing dissatisfaction with the education offered by many secondary modern schools, led to experiments with comprehensive schools from the 1940s. In some low-population areas — such as the town of Settle — the creation of a tripartite structure was not physically viable, and comprehensive schools began to spread, though patchily, across the country, from Anglesey to the West Riding of Yorkshire.

These schools were an obvious alternative to the Tripartite System, and had already proven successful in Sweden and parts of the US. Political and administrative support for the general introduction of comprehensive schools was strongest in London: London County Council (LCC) Education Officer Graham Savage, influenced by the US High School system, was a powerful advocate.

Early comprehensives[link]

The first comprehensives were set up after the Second World War. In 1946, for example, Walworth School was one of five 'experimental' comprehensive schools set up by the London County Council^[11] Another early comprehensive school was Holyhead County School in Anglesey in 1949.^[12][13] Other places that experimented with comprehensives included Coventry, Sheffield, Leicestershire, and the West Riding of Yorkshire.

These early comprehensives mostly modelled themselves, in terms of ethos, on the grammar school, with gown-wearing teachers conducting lessons in a very formal style. Some comprehensive schools have continued to follow this model, especially those that were themselves grammar schools before becoming comprehensives. The opening of Risinghill School in Islington in 1960 offered an alternative to this model. Embracing the progressive ideals of sixties education, the school abandoned corporal punishment and brought in a much more liberal attitude to discipline and methods of study. However, this idea did not take hold in many places.

Nationwide implementation[link]

The largest expansion of comprehensive schools resulted from a policy decision taken in 1965 by Anthony Crosland, Secretary of State for Education in the 1964-1970 Labour government, a fervent supporter of comprehensive education. This had been the party's policy for some time. The policy decision was implemented by Circular 10/65, an instruction to local education authorities to plan for conversion.

In 1970 the Conservative Party re-entered government. Margaret Thatcher became Secretary of State for Education, and ended the compulsion on local authorities to convert. However, many local authorities were so far down the path that it would have been prohibitively expensive to attempt to reverse the process, and more comprehensive schools were established under Mrs Thatcher than any other education secretary. However, she went on to be a ferocious critic of comprehensive education. By 1975 the majority of local authorities in England and Wales had abandoned the 11-plus examination and moved to a comprehensive system.

Over that 10-year period many secondary modern schools and grammar schools were amalgamated to form large neighbourhood comprehensives, whilst a number of new schools were built to accommodate a growing school population. By 1968 around 20% of children had been in comprehensives, and by the mid 1970s the system had been almost fully implemented. Nearly all new schools were built as comprehensives, and existing grammar and modern schools had either been closed (see for example the Liverpool Institute) or amalgamated with neighbouring secondary moderns to produce comprehensive schools. A small number of local education authorities have held out against the trend, such as Kent. In those places, grammar schools, secondary modern schools and selection at 11 continue.

Timetable of implementation (by LEA or district)[link]

• 1965 - Telford
• 1966 - Crawley^[14]
• 1967 - Haringey
• 1968 - Leicestershire, Merton, Croydon
• 1969 - Cumbria, Sheffield
• 1971 - Suffolk, Derbyshire
• 1972 - Bedfordshire
• 1973 - Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Havering
• 1974 - Hampshire, City of Lincoln, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Nottinghamshire (Retford 1977), Northamptonshire, Shropshire, Ealing
• 1975 - Portsmouth
• 1976 - Leicester, Essex, Peterborough, West Sussex
• 1977 - Worcestershire, ILEA (completed)
• 1978 - Cheshire
• 1979 - Barrow in Furness, Norfolk

Note: Cumbria and Telford have one selective school.

Callaghan's Great Debate[link]

In 1976 the future Labour prime minister James Callaghan gave a speech at Oxford's Ruskin College. He launched what became known as the 'great debate' on the education system. He went on to list the areas he felt needed closest scrutiny: the case for a core curriculum, the validity and use of informal teaching methods, the role of school inspection and the future of the examination system. Callaghan was not the first to raise these questions. A 'black paper' attacking liberal theories in education and poor standards in comprehensive schools had appeared in 1969, to be followed by a second in 1971. The authors were the academics Brian Cox and A.E. Dyson. They were supported by certain head teachers, notably Dr. Rhodes Boyson, who later became a Conservative MP. The black papers called for a return to traditional teaching methods and an end to the comprehensive experiment.

Current status[link]

Comprehensive schools remain the most common type of state secondary school in England, and the only type in Wales. They account for around 90% of pupils, or 64% if one does not count schools with low-level selection. This figure varies by region.

Since the 1988 Education Reform Act, parents have a right to choose which school their child should go to. This concept of "school choice" introduces the idea of competition between state schools, a fundamental change to the original "neighbourhood comprehensive" model, and is partly intended as a means by which schools that are perceived to be inferior are forced either to improve or, if hardly anyone wants to go there, to close down. Government policy is currently promoting 'specialisation' whereby parents choose a secondary school appropriate for their child's interests and skills. Most initiatives focus on parental choice and information, implementing a pseudo-market incentive to encourage better schools. This logic has underpinned the controversial league tables of school performance.

Both Conservative Party and Labour governments have been experimenting with alternatives to the original neighbourhood comprehensive since the mid 1980s.^[12]

Experiments have included:

• partnerships where successful schools share knowledge and best practice with nearby schools
• federations of schools, where a partnership is formalised through joint governance arrangements
• closing and reopening 'failing schools'
• city technology colleges
• city academies

Currently, following the advice of Sir Cyril Taylor - former businessman and Conservative politician, and chairman of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) - in the mid 1990s, both major parties have backed the creation of specialist schools, which focus on excellence in a particular subject and are theoretically allowed to select up to 10% of their intake. This policy consensus had brought to an end the notion that all children will go to their local school, and assumes parents will send their child to the school they feel they are most suited to.

These new school types mean that it is open to debate whether the comprehensive system is still in operation; but it could be argued that the new forms of school are best characterised as developments from, rather than challenges to, comprehensive education.

Debate and issues[link]

Supporters of comprehensive education argue that it is unacceptable on both moral and practical grounds to select or reject children on the basis of their academic ability. They also argue that comprehensive schools in the UK have allowed millions of children to gain access to further and higher education after the age of 16, and that the previous selective system relegated children who failed the eleven-plus examination to a second-class, inferior education and hence to worse employment prospects.

Critics of comprehensive schools argue that the reality has been a levelling-down of provision and a denial of opportunity to bright children from disadvantaged backgrounds, who might once have expected to pass the eleven-plus exam and have the advantage of a grammar school education. The most straightforward way for parents to ensure that their children attend what is perceived to be a "good" school now is to buy a house within its catchment area. This, critics claim, has led to de facto selection according to parents' financial means rather than their children's ability at passing exams.

During the late 1960s there was heated debate about the merits of streaming pupils. In grammar schools pupils were taught in different classes according to their perceived ability. At first the comprehensives copied this structure, but the failings of streaming, principally that it failed to reflect the spread of abilities in different subjects, led to experiments with other methods. One controversial method, mixed ability teaching, was widely adopted. Over time, however, it was supplanted in many schools by 'setting', whereby children are grouped by ability in different subjects, allowing the possibility of being in the 'top' set for mathematics, but the 'bottom set' for history.

Scotland[link]

Scotland has a very different educational system to England and Wales, though also based on comprehensive education. It has different ages of transfer, different examinations and a different philosophy of choice and provision. All publicly funded primary and secondary schools are comprehensive. The Scottish Government has rejected plans for specialist schools as of 2005.

Northern Ireland[link]

Education in Northern Ireland differs slightly to systems used elsewhere in the United Kingdom, though it is more similar to that used in England and Wales than it is to Scotland.

Media[link]

The Inbetweeners is a British sitcom which took place in a fictional Comprehensive.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Comprehensive Future - the campaign for fair admissions
• Centre for the Support of Comprehensive Schools
• Comprehensive Education - Examining the Evidence Report of 1999 seminar organised by CASE (the Campaign for State Education in the UK).
• Campaign for State Education
• Secretary of State for Education Ruth Kelly on comprehensive education
• Comp, a BBC Radio 4 documentary about the creation of comprehensive schools
• Discussions in 2002 about the future of comprehensives
• http://www.arasite.org/edinandsocmods.html

Gavin Newsom
49th Lieutenant Governor of California
Incumbent
Assumed office January 10, 2011
Governor	Jerry Brown
Preceded by	Abel Maldonado
42nd Mayor of San Francisco
In office January 3, 2004 – January 10, 2011
Preceded by	Willie Brown
Succeeded by	Edwin M. Lee
Member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from the 2nd District
In office 1997–2004
Preceded by	District created in 2000; prior terms were on a city-wide seat. Appointed to Kevin Shelley's seat.
Succeeded by	Michela Alioto-Pier
Personal details
Born	Gavin Christopher Newsom (1967-10-10) October 10, 1967 (age 44) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Kimberly Guilfoyle (2001–2006, divorced) Jennifer Siebel (2008–present)
Residence	San Francisco, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Santa Clara University (B.A.)
Profession	Politician
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Signature

Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician who is the 49th and current Lieutenant Governor of California.^[1] Previously, he was the 42nd Mayor of San Francisco, and was elected in 2003 to succeed Willie Brown, becoming San Francisco's youngest mayor in 100 years.^[2] Newsom was re-elected in 2007 with 72 percent of the vote.^[3][4] In 2010, Samepoint released a study that measured the social media influence of mayors around the country, and ranking the top 100 most social mayors. San Francisco's Mayor Gavin Newsom was named the Most Social Mayor in America according to the Samepoint study.

Newsom graduated from Redwood High School in Larkspur, California, in 1985, and in 1989 from Santa Clara University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science. His PlumpJack Wine Shop, founded in 1992, grew into a multimillion-dollar enterprise, and now includes bars, restaurants, and a Lake Tahoe hotel called Squaw Valley Inn. He was first appointed by Willie Brown to serve on San Francisco's Parking and Traffic Commission in 1996, and was appointed the following year as Supervisor. Newsom drew voter attention with his Care Not Cash program, designed to move homeless people into city assisted care. He defeated the Green Party's Matt Gonzalez 53% to 47% in a run-off in his race for mayor in 2003, becoming the youngest mayor of San Francisco since John W. Geary.

In March 2010, he announced his candidacy for Lieutenant Governor,^[1] setting off speculation about possible successors if he were to win.^[5] In June 2010, he received the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor.^[6] Newsom won the 2010 lieutenant governor election on November 2, 2010.^[7]

Early life[link]

Newsom is a fourth-generation San Franciscan; his paternal great-grandfather emigrated from Ireland in 1865. One of his maternal great-grandfathers, Scotsman Thomas Addis, was a pioneer scientist in the field of nephrology and a professor of medicine at Stanford University. His father, William Newsom, is a retired state appeals court Justice. Newsom's parents separated when he was two and divorced in 1972. At age 10, Newsom moved with his mother, Tessa, and sister to nearby Marin County.^[8][9] In May 2002, Tessa (Menzies) Newsom died after a five-year fight with breast cancer.

Newsom later reflected that he did not have an easy childhood.^[9] Newsom attended kindergarten and first grade at the French-American bilingual school in San Francisco but transferred because of severe dyslexia that still affects him. His dyslexia has made it difficult for him to write, spell, read, and work with numbers.^[9] He attended third through fifth grades at Notre Dame des Victoires, where he was placed in remedial reading classes.^[8] Newsom graduated from Redwood High School in 1985. He played basketball and baseball in high school.^[8] Newsom was an outfielder in baseball. His basketball skills placed him on the cover of the Marin Independent Journal.^[8] Newsom's childhood friend Derek Smith recalled Newsom as "one of the hardest working players on the team who became a great player because of his effort, instead of his natural abilities."^[8] Newsom's father attended his games with San Francisco politicians that included John Burton and Quentin Kopp. Newsom's father had ties to several other local politicians.^[8] Newsom's aunt was married to Ron Pelosi, the brother-in-law of former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.^[9] Newsom's father was also a friend of Governor Jerry Brown.^[9]

Tessa Newsom worked three jobs to support Gavin and his sister Hilary Newsom Callan. In an interview with The San Francisco Chronicle, his sister recalled Christmas holidays when their mother told them there wouldn't be any gifts.^[8] Despite limited finances, Tessa opened their home to foster children, instilling in Newsom the importance of public service.^[8][10] His father's finances were strapped in part because of his father's tendency to give away his earnings.^[10] Newsom worked several jobs in high school to help support his family.^[3]

Newsom attended Santa Clara University on a partial baseball scholarship and student loans, where he graduated in 1989 with a B.A. in political science. Newsom was a left-handed pitcher for Santa Clara but he threw his arm out after two years and hasn't thrown a baseball since.^[11] He lived in the Alameda apartments which Newsom later compared to living in a hotel. He later reflected on his education fondly, crediting the Socratic approach of Santa Clara that he said has helped him become an independent thinker who questions orthodoxy. Newsom spent a semester studying abroad in Rome.^[12]

Business career[link]

Newsom's first job out of college was selling podiatric orthotics.^[8] He later worked for real estate firm Shorenstein & Company, where he worked as an assistant and performed a range of jobs that included cleaning bathrooms and removing asbestos.^[8] He earned US$18,000 per year.^[9] Newsom also earned a real estate license.^[8]

On May 14, 1991, Newsom and his investors created the company PlumpJack Associates L.P. In 1992, the group started the PlumpJack Wine Shop on Fillmore Street in San Francisco with the financial help of his family friend Gordon Getty. PlumpJack was the name of an opera written by Getty, who invested in 10 of Newsom's 11 businesses.^[9] Getty told the San Francisco Chronicle that he treated Newsom like a son and invested in his first business venture because of that relationship. According to Getty, later business investments were because of "the success of the first."^[9] At the PlumpJack Cafe, Newsom gave a monthly $50 gift certificate to employees whose business ideas failed because according to him in 1997: "There can be no success without failure."^[11]

One of Newsom's early interactions with government occurred when Newsom resisted the San Francisco Health Department requirement to install a sink at his PlumpJack Wines. The Health Department argued that wine was a food. The department required the store to install a $27,000 sink in the carpeted wine shop on the grounds that the shop needed the sink for a mop. When Newsom was later appointed Supervisor, he told the San Francisco Examiner: "That's the kind of bureaucratic malaise I'm going to be working through."^[11]

The business grew to an enterprise with over 700 employees.^[8] The PlumpJack Cafe Partners L.P. opened the PlumpJack Cafe, also on Fillmore Street, in 1993. Between 1993 and 2000, Newsom and his investors opened several other businesses that included the PlumpJack Squaw Valley Inn with a PlumpJack Cafe (1994), the Napa Valley winery (1995), the Balboa Cafe Bar and Grill (1995), the PlumpJack Development Fund L.P. (1996), the MatrixFillmore Bar (1998), PlumpJack Wines shop Noe Valley branch (1999), PlumpJackSport retail clothing (2000), and a second Balboa Cafe at Squaw Valley (2000).^[9] Newsom's investments included five restaurants and two retail clothing stores.^[8] Newsom's annual income was greater than $429,000 from 1996 to 2001.^[9] In 2002, his business holdings were valued at more than $6.9 million.^[8]

Newsom sold his share of his San Francisco businesses when he became mayor in 2004. He maintained his ownership in the PlumpJack companies outside San Francisco that included the PlumpJack Winery in Oakville, California, new PlumpJack-owned Cade Winery in Angwin, California and the PlumpJack Squaw Valley Inn. He is currently the president in absentia of Airelle Wines Inc., which is connected to the PlumpJack Winery in Napa County. Newsom earned between $141,000 and $251,000 in 2007 from his business interests.^[13] In February 2006 he paid $2,350,000 for his residence in the Russian Hill neighborhood, which he put on the market in April 2009 for $2,995,000.^[14]

Early political career[link]

Newsom's first political experience came when he volunteered for Willie Brown's campaign for mayor in 1995. Newsom hosted a private fundraiser at his PlumpJack Cafe.^[9] In 1996, he was appointed by San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown to a vacant seat on the Parking and Traffic Commission and was later elected president of the commission. In 1997, Brown appointed him to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors seat vacated by Kevin Shelley. At the time, he became the youngest member of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors and also the board's only heterosexual Caucasian male.^[15][16][17] Newsom was sworn in by his father and pledged to bring his business experience to the Board.^[16] Willie Brown called Newsom "part of the future generation of leaders of this great city."^[16] Newsom described himself as a "social liberal and a fiscal watchdog."^[16][17] Newsom was subsequently elected to a full, 4 year term to the Board in 1998.

In 1999, San Francisco's voters chose to exchange at-large elections to the Board for the previous district system, and Newsom was reelected in 2000 and 2002 to represent District 2, which includes the Pacific Heights, Marina, Cow Hollow, Sea Cliff, and Laurel Heights. He faced no opposition in his 2002 reelection. His district had the highest income level and the highest Republican registration in San Francisco. Newsom also had author Danielle Steel and actor Robin Williams as constituents.^[18] In 2000, Newsom paid $500 to the San Francisco Republican Party to be on the party's endorsement slate.^[19]

As Supervisor, Newsom gained public attention for his role in advocating reform of the city's Municipal Railway (Muni).^[20] He was one of two supervisors endorsed by Rescue Muni, a transit riders group, in his 1998 reelection. He sponsored Proposition B to require Muni and other city departments to develop detailed customer service plans.^[9][21] The measure passed with 56.6% of the vote.^[22] Newsom sponsored a ballot measure from Rescue Muni; a version of the measure was approved by voters in November 1999.^[20]

Newsom also supported allowing restaurants to serve alcohol at their outdoor tables, banning tobacco advertisements visible from the streets, stiffer penalties for landlords, and a resolution to commend Colin Powell for raising money for youth programs that was defeated.^[20] Newsom's support for business interests at times strained his relationship with labor leaders.^[20]

Newsom in 2009

During Newsom's time as Supervisor, he was pro-development and for smart growth along with being "anti-handout."^[23] He supported housing projects through public-private partnerships to increase home ownership and affordable housing in San Francisco.^[23] Newsom supported HOPE, a failed local ballot measure that would have allowed increased condo-conversion rate if a certain percentage of tenants within a building were buying their units.^[23] As a candidate for Mayor, he supported building 10,000 new housing units to create 15,000 new construction jobs.^[23]

As Supervisor, the centerpiece of Newsom's efforts was a voter initiative called "Care Not Cash (Measure N)," which offered care, supportive housing, drug treatment, and help from behavior health specialists for the homeless instead of direct cash aid from the state's General Assistance program.^[23] Many homeless rights advocates protested against Care Not Cash.^[24][25] The successfully passed ballot measure raised the political profile of Gavin Newsom and provided the volunteers, donors, and campaign staff, which helped make him a leading contender for the Mayorship in 2003.^{[9][23][26][27]}

Mayoral races[link]

2003[link]

Newsom placed first in the November 4, 2003 general election in a nine-person field. Newsom received 41.9 percent of the vote to Green Party candidate Matt Gonzalez's 19.6 in the first round of balloting, but he faced a closer race in the December 9 runoff when many of the city's liberal groups coalesced around the campaign of Gonzalez.^[26] The race was partisan with attacks against Gonzalez for his support of Ralph Nader in the 2000 presidential election and attacks against Newsom for contributing $500 to a Republican slate mailer in 2000 that endorsed issues Newsom supported.^[28][29] Democratic leadership felt that they needed to reinforce San Francisco as a Democratic stronghold after losing the 2000 presidential election and the 2003 recall election to Arnold Schwarzenegger.^[29] National figures from the Democratic Party, including Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and Jesse Jackson, campaigned on Newsom's behalf.^[29][30] Five supervisors endorsed Gonzalez while Newsom received the endorsement of Willie Brown.^[26][27]

Newsom won the run-off race, capturing 53 percent of the vote to Gonzalez's 47 percent, and winning by about 11,000 votes.^[26] Newsom ran as a business friendly centrist Democrat and a moderate in San Francisco politics; some of his opponents called him conservative.^[26][29] Newsom claimed he was a centrist in the Dianne Feinstein mold.^[23][31] He ran on the slogan "great cities, great ideas" and presented over 21 policy papers.^[27] Newsom pledged to continue working on San Francisco's homelessness issue.^[26] Newsom was sworn in as Mayor on January 3, 2004. He called for unity among the city's political factions and promised to address the issues of potholes, public schools, and affordable housing.^[32] Newsom said he was "a different kind of leader who "isn't afraid to solve even the toughest problems."^[33]

2007[link]

San Francisco's progressive community attempted to find a candidate to run a strong campaign against Newsom. Supervisors Ross Mirkarimi and Chris Daly considered running against Newsom but both declined. Matt Gonzalez also decided not to challenge Newsom.^[34] When the August 10, 2007 filing deadline passed, the discussion around San Francisco shifted to talk about Newsom's second term. He was challenged in the election by 13 challengers that included George Davis, a nudist activist, and Michael Powers, owner of the Power Exchange sex club.^[35] Conservative former Supervisor Tony Hall withdrew by early September due to lack of support.^[36] The San Francisco Chronicle declared in August 2007 that Newsom faced no "serious threat to his re-election bid." Newsom raised $1.6 million for his re-election campaign by early August.^[37] He won re-election on November 6, 2007 with over 72% of the vote.^[4] Upon taking office for a second term, Newsom promised to focus on the environment, homelessness, health care, education, housing and rebuilding San Francisco General Hospital.^[38][39]

Mayoralty[link]

Newsom at Stanford University in 2008

As mayor, Newsom has focused on development projects in Hunters Point and Treasure Island. He signed the Health Choices Plan in 2007 to provide San Francisco residents with universal healthcare. Under Newsom, San Francisco ostensibly joined the Kyoto Protocol, although it could not actually join a treaty between sovereign states. In 2004, Newsom gained national attention when he directed the San Francisco city-county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, in violation of the current state law.^[40] In August 2004, the Supreme Court of California annulled the marriages that Newsom had authorized, as they conflicted with state law at that time. Still, Newsom's unexpected move brought national attention to the issues of gay marriage and gay rights, solidifying political support for Newsom in San Francisco and in the gay community.^[3][10][41]

In 2009 he received the Leadership for Healthy Communities Award along with mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City and three other public officials for his commitment to making healthy food and physical activity options more accessible to children and families.^[42] For example, in 2008, he hosted the Urban Rural Roundtable to explore ways to promote regional food development and increased access to healthy affordable food,^[43] and he secured $8 million in federal and local funds for the Better Streets program,^[44] which ensures that public health perspectives are fully integrated into urban planning processes. He also signed a menu-labeling bill into law, requiring that chain restaurants print nutrition information on their menus.^[45] Newsom was recently named America's Most Social Mayor by Samepoint.com, based on analysis of the Social Media profile of Mayors from the top 100 largest cities in the United States.^[46]

Proposition 8[link]

During the 2008 election, Newsom was a prominent and vocal opponent of Proposition 8, the ballot initiative to reverse the California Supreme Court ruling that there was a constitutional right to same-sex marriage.^[47] In the months leading up to Election Day, Proposition 8 supporters released a commercial featuring Newsom saying the following words in a speech regarding same-sex marriage: "This door's wide open now. It's going to happen, whether you like it or not."^[48] Some observers noted that polls shifted in favor of Proposition 8 following the release of the commercial; this, in turn, led to speculation that Newsom unwittingly played a role in the passage of the amendment.^{[48][49][50][51][52]}

Controversies[link]

In 2004, Newsom gained national attention when he directed the San Francisco city-county clerk to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, in violation of the current state law.^[53] In August 2004, the Supreme Court of California annulled the marriages that Newsom had authorized, as they conflicted with state law at that time. Still, Newsom's unexpected move brought national attention to the issues of gay marriage and gay rights, solidifying political support for Newsom in San Francisco and in the gay community.^[3][10][41]

In January 2007, it was revealed that Newsom had had a romantic relationship in mid-2005 with Ruby Rippey-Tourk, the wife of his former deputy chief of staff and then campaign manager, Alex Tourk.^[54] Tourk filed for divorce shortly after the revelation and left Newsom's campaign and administration.

In 2009, Newsom came under attack for the City of San Francisco's policy of illegally harboring juvenile criminal undocumented immigrants. The city was circumventing Immigration and Customs Enforcement by harboring or sending the immigrants back to their own native countries. ^[55] In 2010, Newsom was removed from the San Francisco Country Democratic Central Committee. SFCDDCC chairman Aaron Peskin said that he no longer resides in the city and therefore does not deserve a seat on the committee.

Lieutenant Governor[link]

In April 2009, Newsom announced his intention to run for Governor of California in the 2010 Election. In September 2009, he received the endorsement of former president Bill Clinton. During the campaign, Newsom remarked that, if elected, he'd like to be referred to as "The Gavinator" (a reference to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's nickname, "The Governator"). Throughout the campaign, however, Newsom suffered low poll numbers, trailing Democratic front-runner Jerry Brown by more than 20 points in most polls.^{[56][57][58][59][60][61][62]} In October 2009, Newsom dropped out of the gubernatorial race.^[63][64][65]

In February 2010 Newsom filed initial paperwork to run for Lieutenant Governor,^[66] and officially announced his candidacy in March.^[1] He received the Democratic nomination in June,^[6] and won the election on November 2, 2010.^[67]

Newsom was sworn in as Lieutenant Governor, on January 10, 2011. The one-week delay was to ensure that a successor as mayor of San Francisco was chosen before he left office. Edwin M. Lee, the city administrator, took office the day after Newsom was sworn in as Lieutenant Governor.

Personal life[link]

Newsom and Jennifer Siebel at the 2008 San Francisco Pride parade.

Newsom was baptized and reared Roman Catholic. He describes himself as an "Irish-Catholic rebel...in some respects, but one that still has tremendous admiration for the Church and very strong faith." When asked about the current state of the Catholic Church in an interview, he said the church was in crisis. Newsom said he stays with the Church because of his "strong connection to a greater purpose, and ... higher being ..." Newsom identifies himself as a practicing Roman Catholic,^[68] stating that he has a "strong sense of faith that is perennial: day in and day out."^[12]

In December 2001, Newsom married Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former San Francisco prosecutor and legal commentator for Court TV, CNN, and MSNBC, and who is now a prominent personality on Fox News Channel. The couple married at Saint Ignatius Catholic Church on the campus of the University of San Francisco, where Guilfoyle attended law school. The couple appeared in the September 2004 issue of Harper's Bazaar, a fashion magazine, in a spread of them at the Getty mansion with the title the "New Kennedys."^[3][69] In January 2005 they jointly filed for divorce, citing "difficulties due to their careers on opposite coasts."^[70]

In January 2007, it was revealed that Newsom had had a romantic relationship in mid-2005 with Ruby Rippey-Tourk, the wife of his former deputy chief of staff and then campaign manager, Alex Tourk.^[71] Tourk filed for divorce shortly after the revelation and left Newsom's campaign and administration. Newsom's affair with Rippey-Tourk ^[72] impacted his popularity with male voters, who viewed his indiscretions as a betrayal of a close friend and ally.^[73]

In September 2006, Newsom began dating actress Jennifer Siebel after being set up for a blind date by a mutual friend, Kathy Wilsey.^[74] In December 2007 their engagement was announced,^[75][76] and they were married in Stevensville, Montana, in July 2008.^[77] In September 2009, Siebel gave birth to a girl, Montana Tessa Newsom.^[78] Siebel gave birth to a son, Hunter Siebel Newsom, on June 12, 2011.

In 2012, Newsom and his family moved out of San Francisco and bought a house in Kentfield, CA. The house is a midcentury home on 1.38 acres. It also hosts direct views of Mt Tamalpais. Newsom bought it for $2.145 million.^[79]

Newsom is the second cousin, twice removed, of musician Joanna Newsom.^[80]

Beginning in May 2012, Current TV will carry The Gavin Newsom Show, a one-hour talk program focused on California notables.^[81]

References[link]

External links[link]

San Francisco Bay Area portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gavin Newsom

• Office of Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom
• Newsom's official campaign website
• CityMayors profile about Gavin Newsom
• Gavin Newsom debates Maggie Gallagher on gay marriage in a May 2009 interactive debate from NOW on PBS Online

v t e Lieutenant Governors of California McDougall Broderick* Purdy R. Anderson Walkup Downey Quinn* de la Guerra* Chellis Machin Holden Pacheco Irwin* Johnson Mansfield Daggett Waterman White* Reddick Millard Jeter Neff A. Anderson Porter Wallace Eshleman Stephens Young Fitts Carnahan Merriam Hatfield Patterson Houser Knight Powers G. Anderson Finch Reinecke Harmer Dymally Curb McCarthy Davis Bustamante Garamendi Pasquil* Maldonado Newsom * acting

v t e Current statewide elected officials and legislative leaders of California U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein Barbara Boxer State government Jerry Brown, Governor Gavin Newsom, Lieutenant Governor Kamala Harris, Attorney General Debra Bowen, Secretary of State John Chiang, Controller Bill Lockyer, Treasurer Dave Jones, Insurance Commissioner Tom Torlakson, Superintendent of Public Instruction Senate Darrell Steinberg, President pro tempore Ellen Corbett, Majority Leader Bob Huff, Minority Leader Assembly John Pérez, Speaker Fiona Ma, Speaker pro tempore Charles Calderon, Majority Leader Connie Conway, Minority Leader Supreme Court (initially appointed, retained by election) Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Chief Justice Joyce L. Kennard Marvin R. Baxter Kathryn Werdegar Ming Chin Carol Corrigan Goodwin Liu, Associate Justices AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY