As registered voters of the State of California, we believe that public meetings of the State Board of Education should be made public, by utilizing technology, to make the meetings available over the Internet.

The geography of our state makes attendance by many of our citizens impractical. It is not reasonable to expect parents or other interested citizens to drive six to eight hours to Sacramento to attend the State Board's meetings.

Fifteen other states already make their State Board meetings available online or through conference calls including Idaho, Kentucky, Oregon, Tennessee and Utah.

These meetings, which are integral to the leadership of our system of public education, will never truly be public meetings until they are made available online. Only then will all citizens of California have an equal opportunity to participate.