My June 2012 Election Recommendations

Local voters face a few important choices on June 5.  Here is how I will be voting:

State Assembly - Bob Wieckowski.  Due to redistricting, Berryessa is now represented by a single member of the Assembly.  We are grouped with Milpitas, Santa Clara, Newark, and half of Fremont in the new 25th AD.  Bob Wieckowski is a good friend of mine and a great member of the Assembly.  He has been very active in working to assist business growth and is very connected with the high tech community.  Before serving in the Assembly, he served on the Fremont City Council.  Please reelect Bob for a second term.

City Council - Kansen Chu.  Kansen has been a phenomenal advocate for San Jose's District 4.  His staff is responsive to constituent needs.  He has finally gotten action on several parks that have been delayed for years.  He facilitated the creation of the Berryessa Business Association.   He is actively engaged on issues regarding the extension of BART into our community; for example, he worked with the city of Milpitas to make sure there is a transit hub at the Milpitas station.  Finally, Kansen is a very good friend to education and is heavily involved with the Berryessa School District and our local high schools.

Proposition 28 - Yes.  While I would prefer elimination of term limits, or at least a lengthening of allowable time in office, Prop. 28 is the best we will can get at this time.  Rather than having members of the Assembly spend their time preparing to run for the Senate, this will allow them to spend their entire 12 years in one house.  The result will be more institutional experience, which should lead to higher quality legislating.

Proposition 29 - Yes. The fact that tobacco companies have spent over $40 million dollars trying to defeat this initiative should be enough reason to support it.  It will erode tobacco company profits by reducing the number of people who smoke.  That is a good thing.  California's tobacco tax is currently one of the lowest in the nation.

Santa Clara County Measure A - Yes.

San Jose Measure B - No.  As a public official, I am aware of the crippling effect of pension obligations on agency budgets.  I have been advocating to our legislators that they make adjustments to state pension plans this year.  San Jose needs smart pension reform, done in cooperation with employee groups.  The city has not accepted any of the proposals from their unions.  In 2010, voters overwhelmingly approved Measure W, which we were promised would help solve our pension problem by allowing for a 2-tier system.  Unfortunately, the city still hasn't created the second tier and continues to hire new employees under the higher cost plan.  Here is more about Measure B.

{Milpitas Measure E - Yes.  Even though I don't live in Milpitas, since they are our neighbors, I am giving a shout-out to this important measure.  The Milpitas School District needs this bond to pay for much-needed repairs to their aging infrastructure.}

Superior Court Judge, Office 5 - Paul Colin.  I like all three candidates, but Paul Colin stands out for me.  His combination of 15 years business/high tech experience and 19 years as a prosecutor gives him great perspective.

Superior Court Judge, Office 7 - Cynthia Sevely.  Cynthia Sevely has 28 years as a Santa Clara County Prosecutor, prosecuting rapes, child molests, elder abuse, and child and elder homicides. 

Democratic Party Central Committee - David Cohen :)
You can vote for up to 6 in this race, and there are 9 candidates.  I'm friends with each of the other 8 who are running, so I am going to leave my recommendation as is.  If you would like information on the other candidates, feel free to contact me individually.

THANK YOU!

I am very pleased to have received the support of such a large portion of the Berryessa community. The election results indicate that Berryessa voters appreciate the gains that have been made in our schools during the past few years and want to keep us moving in that direction.

I can't begin to thank all the people who helped me during this long campaign. I've been in campaign mode for 11 months and your support and encouragement has kept me fueled. I hope you know how much I appreciate all that you have done for me and for the Berryessa community.

I pledge to continue to put children's needs first during my second term. There are still some tough challenges ahead, but with the proper priorities and good teamwork, our schools will continue to thrive.

To see the complete election returns, visit the Santa Clara County Reigstrar of Voters website.

Positive Progress for Berryessa Schools

With 10 days until election day, it is time to sum up the campaign. My campaign has been based on tremendous gains that have been made over the past few years and articulating a vision of keeping balanced services so that all children are offered a well-rounded education.

Much of the focus of the past couple years has been on the budget cuts and tough decisions that have been forced upon us. Like every other public school district in the state, Berryessa Union School District has been a victim of the recession. As a result, we have been forced to cut 20% of our budget. That required creative solutions in order to maintain the balanced services I mentioned. While our class sizes have increased, we were able to keep K-3 classes at 24:1, while many districts around us are now have 30 children in each classroom at those grade levels.
Increased class size means a reduced teaching force. Our district has 35 fewer certificated teachers than it did last year. In order to prevent further erosion of the teaching staff, we made small but painful cuts in other areas. We reduced library hours by 20%, middle school counseling by 25%, custodial service by over 40%, maintenance staff by a similarly large amount, and clerk and secretary hours by about 10%. Our district office administration has made cuts every year, and we operate as lean as any of our peer districts.

We were able to maintain our unique and award-winning music program, and avoid closing any of our schools. Large savings were realized by a major lighting retrofit project that converted the district to modern fluorescent lighting fixtures.

Through it all, the Berryessa Union School District has made tremendous growth during recent years. Our district's API scores are up 68 points over the past 6 years, with 11 of our 13 schools now scoring above 800 and 4 of our schools above 850. Three more schools have been awarded distinguished school designation during the past four years. Two of our schools were major winners in the Governor's physical fitness challenge. Our middle school students were big winners at the county science fair. Piedmont Middle's music program won major statewide awards. The list goes on.

Despite the cuts, the district has been able to add a district librarian, a social worker, and two new school psychologists. We have just completed a complete upgrade of our district's technology, with increased bandwidth and modern systems. We are utilizing computers in classrooms and this year have received a grant to install smart board technology in 4th and 5th grade classes at 2 schools. And we are about to begin installation of solar panels across the district in the most profitable solar deal by any district in our County.

The district is moving forward and needs continuity of leadership to continue to make progress in these areas. I am bullish on the future of the Berryessa School District and look forward to being part of its ongoing success.

Knowledge and Experience

The Berryessa Citizens Advisory Committee (BCAC) hosted a forum for the 6 candidates for Berryessa School Board on Monday, Oct. 11. We addressed questions from the role of board members to the district's academic performance to class size. I have previously addressed class size and the trade-off between keeping class sizes small and preserving balanced services for our children.

At the forum, I was glad to be able to discuss this issue further. The video for this question is available to watch here. It is clear from the answers that I have an in-depth understanding of how a school district's priorities can make a difference in educating our children. It is important during times like this to keep that knowledge and experience on the board.

Video of the entire forum is available here.

Supporting District Libraries

One of the most important services offered in our schools is the library. I know that my daughter Mia looks forward to her weekly visit to Noble's library, where she can experience the wonder of a large selection of books and bring a book of her choice home for one week.

Due to the California budget crisis, school libraries across the state have pared back service and even closed completely. Close to home, the East Side Union High School District no longer has library staff at each school.

Fortunately, the Berryessa School District still provides libraries that are open 4 hours/day in each of our elementary schools and 5 hours/day in each middle school. These hours are paid for out of the district budget, both from the general fund and from Measure W revenue. Last year, the district provided one more hour at each school (5 and 6). That means we were able to move forward with no more than a 20% reduction in district support at each school.

At the same time, due to responsible budgeting, the district has been able to add a full-time credentialed librarian to serve all 13 schools. Our new librarian, Anne Lee, helps support curriculum and material selection and provides a service that has not existed in the district for many years.

I will continue to make sure that the Berryessa School District supports quality library programs.

Enhancing Services for our Students

One role of a School Board member is to find ways to maximize the value of all the educational dollars the district is able to spend. Having to make cuts means being smart about the resources that can be deployed. By keeping spending under control, we
have been able to add strategic new resources, such as a district librarian,
school psychologists, and a social worker, all while maintaining key academic
programs, including music, counselors, and libraries.

The two additional school psychologists will assist our Special Education programs and help teachers and paraeducators complete Individual Education Progams (IEPs) and work with children that need additional help. The social worker will supplement the work being provided by our middle school counselors, working with families that need extra attention. The district librarian will help create academic programs that teach literacy and help make sure school libraries have the resources they need to help students be successful.

I am very proud that our district has added these new services during the past two years. These kinds of programs enhance the great work being done in the schools and will help bring our district to the next level.

Don't Let Unrealistic Expectations Cloud Our Gains

The so-called "No Child Left Behind" legislation from the Bush Administration focused schools around the country on bringing everyone up to standards. However, the goal in the legislation is for 100% of all students to be proficient by 2014. This means that every student in every school, even those that are still learning English, such as new immigrants, or those who have special needs, must be proficient or a school is deemed failing.

While schools should strive for everyone to be successful, the result of the unrealistic goal is to stigmatize schools that are making significant annual progress. The requirements call for double digit growth in performance every year, a standard that cannot be met. In Berryessa, what this means is that several schools that have improved every year are being labeled as "Program Improvement" schools this year.

For a more detailed discussion of No Child Left Behind and it's unrealistic expectations, see my discussion at the Board President's Blog.

When school API scores are released this week, I will be celebrating the amazing achievements of the Berryessa School District's teachers and staff in enabling growth in achievement at our schools year after year. I will continue to focus on ways the district can continue it's phenomenal growth in the years ahead. And at the same time, I will continue to lobby the federal government to find better ways to measure adequate yearly progress so that exemplary schools are not categorized as failing.