Education

By Dave Cortese

A summary of my experience and vision for improving the educational system in our county.

Providing an outstanding education means that every child has a right to excellent teachers, quality materials, safe classrooms, reasonable class sizes, and safe places to go after school. I am prepared for the challenge.

I am the candidate who has served on the East Side Union High School District Board of Education. It is the largest high school district in Northern California. While on the school board I was able to forge important partnerships with the county, the Building Trades Council, high tech businesses, our colleges and universities, and community based agencies that decreased dropouts.

I am grateful for the confidence that the parents, teachers and administrators placed in me, and I was able to return that trust by leading the effort to build the first new high school in Silicon Valley in over 25 years, Evergreen Valley High School. Elsewhere in the district we instituted tough new curriculum standards, lowered the dropout rate and created innovative new programs and partnerships for our most at-risk students. Youth crime declined and academic success increased.

It is clear to me that to provide a solid education inside the classroom, we must also find more ways to enhance school safety. A primary mission of any local government is public safety, and our schools and the areas surrounding them should be a high priority. Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith is endorsing me for Supervisor, and I look forward to working with her on many good programs that have been proposed, or are already in place.

We also need to advocate for our fair share of funding here in Supervisorial District 3. Visiting the State Capitol is one way to have our voices heard. I lead an annual "Save Our Schools" education advocacy trip to Sacramento, where parents, teachers, school administrators and others meet with the State Superintendent of Schools, State Senators and Assemblymembers to fight for our fair share of the proposed education budget.

State Superintendent Jack O'Connell has endorsed my candidacy and has promised to continue to work with us to bring fairness in education back to our kids' schools.

When students excel, we must celebrate their achievement and encourage them to do more. County leaders should support the best, most successful programs that exist in our public schools today. As leaders, we can help by becoming partners to grow and expand scholarship programs and organizations that reward academic excellence. Many possibilities for public-private partnerships have been untapped.

Our children deserve more. Let's set a good example, and work together for solutions.