League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA November 8, 2005 Election
	Claude Ezran Answers Questions Candidate for Board Member; Palo Alto Unified School District

Questions & Answers

1. What approaches would you support to deal with the issues of diversity for students, faculty and staff in the Palo Alto Unified School District?

I strongly support efforts to recruit a faculty and staff that somehow reflect the make up of our community. This brings additional strength, creativity and cohesiveness to our community. We need to do a lot more to support children from minority families and help some of them close the achievement gap. Some schools have achieved outstanding academic results for their low-income students with longer class hours; maybe we should consider that for the children that would most benefit from it.

2. How would you seek to assure voters that the schools are using state and local funds wisely and fairly to protect and enhance an essential investment in our children and our future?

Using funds wisely and fairly is the #1 objective in my platform. With the Measure A parcel tax, we asked taxpayers to make a substantial sacrifice; we owe it to them to ensure that this money will be getting the results they are entitled to expect. Also, if we ever have to go back to taxpayers, due to poor economic conditions, I will do everything in my power to minimize the impact. I have a strong expertise in financial matters; I used to be Financial Analyst and a Budget & Planning Manager at Intel. I will use my experience to analyze and guide the district's finances.

3. What is your opinion of such reforms as creating "schools within schools" to reduce student stress, and how would you help a diverse student population achieve their educational goals, whether they are college bound or not?

Reducing stress ranks also very high in my objectives; I already see its effects as the father of a 7th grader at Jordan. This is a complex and systemic issue that needs to be tackled from many different angles. Some of the measures I will consider include: selectively reducing the amount of homework when it is out of balance; parent education (they too can be a major cause of that stress!); students education, especially in high school (they need to understand that they are not "failures" because they are not admitted to Harvard, Stanford or Berkeley); and finally teacher training. I would like to see the PTA and the district collaborate on that effort.