LONG BEACH -- Despite a drop in state funding, public schools, colleges and universities have to find ways to work together to offer students a seamless path to employment, Jack O'Connell, state superintendent of public instruction, said Thursday in Long Beach. O'Connell "There has always been a disconnect,' O'Connell said. "That is changing.'

O'Connell was the final speaker of the fourth annual California K-16 Partnerships and Student Success Conference, held this week at Cal State Long Beach. The two-day conference, which concluded Thursday, was designed to promote seamless education, or the idea that all segments of higher and lower education should work together to prepare students for the work force. Reflecting the uphill challenges resulting from California's budget crisis, the conference theme was "Transforming Tough Times: Counseling, Classroom Practices and Leadership.' As evidence of those tough times, this year's event attracted about 400 instruc tors and administrators or less than half the turnout of previous years. Coleen Maldonado, the conference coordinator, said cuts in travel budgets were to blame.

O'Connell, who earned his teaching credential from CSULB in 1975, serves as the chief spokesman for the state's public schools and provides policy direction to local school districts. During a 30-minute speech, he touched briefly on a variety of education "musts.'

Teachers must know their con tent, he said, and the state must reduce the number of standardized tests and the amount of paperwork required of public schools. Classroom lessons must be taught in a way that's interesting and relevant to students. Districts must continue to plan and build new campuses, and higher education must remain accessible and affordable in California.

O'Connell pointed to recent reports that large numbers of college freshmen need remedial English and math courses as proof that K-12 schools need to better prepare students by working directly with University of California and CSU officials.

He said the CSU, the state Department of Education and the state Board of Education already are developing an early assessment program to integrate high school standards with college expectations.

"Our responsibility very simply is to help make all high school graduates college-ready,' O'Connell said.