|
The questions were prepared by the Leagues of Women Voters of Santa Clara County and asked of all candidates for this office.
See below for questions on
Funding,
Instruction,
Future
Click on a name for candidate information. See also more information about this contest.
 |
1. How would you determine that the schools are using federal, state, and local funds wisely and fairly and how would you report your findings to the community?
|
Answer from Van T. Le:
I will review in consultation with the Board of Trustee and Management staff the elements of the budget to insure that resources are allocated wisely and fairly. Once I am satisfied that resources have been allocated fairly, I will provide a newsletter to report my conclusions on the budget to the voters and parents. I will also attend as many meetings as necessary to inform the voter/parent community.
Answer from J. Manuel Herrera:
As a Trustee for the East Side Union High School District, I emphasize annual audits and board oversight reports to ensure proper use of funds and transparent information to the community. Additionally I strongly supported creation of a new Internal Auditor position and new Board Audit Committee to increase the level of accountability and transparency in the use of all school district resources.
Answer from Robert "Bob" Nunez:
Currently, there is an annual audit that reports out the income and expenses for federal, state, and local funds. This audit is shared at a public Board meeting. I would go beyond this by also creating a Board Budget committee. This committee would meet a least quarterly and would review the income and expenses for all programs by school site. Parent representatives as well as teacher and classified associations would also participate on this committee. An annual report would be provided to the community in print and electronically.
Answer from Derek Grasty:
All budgets are subject to audit and oversight by the superintendent and the Board. The ESUHSD Master Plan would outline priorities where money should go and create equity in education within the district. The district Master Plan would include input from all stakeholders: parents, teachers, administrators, union leadership, and representation from business and the community.
Each school will have a School Site Plan that will adhere to district goals while addressing site specific needs. Sites will prepare a budget to address their school goals and objectives. The Site Plan will be approved by the School Site Council and then submitted to the Board for approval. Once the Board has approved the plans the Master Plan and School Site Plans will be available on-line and in the school and district offices for review by the public.
Answer from Leo Cortez:
Findings and reports need to be shared with the community on a regular (per board meeting) basis. Budget breakdown nd alocation will be given on a quarterly basis with a monthly report given by the finance director.
There are signatures which are required prior to dollars being spent for any services. Those have to be aligned and fall with in each categorical program and must be part of the auditing process. Which the school district should conduct on an annual basis.
The information of the audit needs to be presented to the community in an annual report via the superintendent's annual address.
Answer from Lupe Arellano Guido:
The district has serious financial problems partly due to the State's economy but also due to the lack of proper oversight. The entire board should be focused on reducing as far away from the classroom as possible.
|
2. Are the schools offering instruction appropriate to the diverse educational abilities of all the students?
|
Answer from Derek Grasty:
The superintendent via principals will ensure that the state standards are being taught and the district adopted-curriculum is implemented at the school sites. But the standard curriculum alone does not meet the needs of our diverse population. Teachers need the academic freedom and support to introduce other standards-based materials to students that are culturally relevant.
http://www.derekgrasty.net
Answer from J. Manuel Herrera:
Yes. Even in this fiscal crisis, our highly diverse student population has a broad range of choices, including magnet programs, career academies, an International Baccalaureate program, smaller learning communities, and charter schools. The East Side Union High School District is living its credo of "Success for EVERY Student."
Answer from Lupe Arellano Guido:
No. The district's latest test scores demonstrate that there is a large number of students of color who are not performing to higher standards.
Answer from Robert "Bob" Nunez:
I do not believe that all schools are offering instruction appropriate to the diverse education abilities of all students. This is partially due to East Side being a PI (Program Improvement) District. As a PI District, East Side has elected to provide the same English and Math support classes across the district. This does not allow for individual high schools to tailor the Program Improvement Model for their individual student populations. I would propose a more tailored offering of instuction based on student population with input from the school community at large.
Answer from Van T. Le:
The high schools are generally offering instruction which challenge the abilities of the students. However, outside factors such as the recession take from the instuctional abilities of teachers and natural abilities of students to always maximize learning.
|
3. Where do want the district to be 5 years from now? What steps should the district take to get there?
|
Answer from Van T. Le:
The biggest priority over the next five years would be to stabilize the funding for the District, which will allow a stable budget by which management can actually plan. By doing so, the District should be able to restore many programs and services which have been weakened or eliminated. The District staff and Board should be working as much as possible with State legislators and the Govenor's office to insure stable school districts funding.
Answer from Leo Cortez:
The district needs to improve year over year on its API scores by building a sense of urgency among all of its stake holders. This can be done with the continue focus on improving student achievement especially in the areas of math and science.
The district must focus its energy, resources and staff to place students first and build a strategy which will have student learning and achievement at the center of it all.
Answer from Derek Grasty:
The East Side Union High School District needs to be in a better place financially. This includes reinstating programs, days of instruction and personnel. Our students are my number one priority. I am a parent and I want the same high quality education for your child as I want for my own. We need to reduce the drop-out rate, close the achievement gap, make sure we have safe and welcoming schools for all, continue high levels of teaching and learning, and align our graduation requirements with the admission requirements of the University of California and California State University systems.
We need to enhance our work and articulation with our feeder schools and school districts. That is, teachers talking and planning with teachers and students talking to students. This will enable our entering ninth graders to come more prepared academically and mentally for the rigors of high school. We also need to involve the local colleges for support with tutoring and mentoring as well as local volunteers and community agencies. Additionally, our needs will include outreach and communication to parents and assisting and helping them to be more involved with school activities and their child's academics.
Answer from Lupe Arellano Guido:
All students should have had the A-G requirements before going on to College or Vocational Training.
Answer from J. Manuel Herrera:
I want for the East Side Union High School District to emerge from its current severe fiscal crisis, to stabilize its leadership team beginning with the Superintendent, school site principals, and others, and to make steady progress in academic achievement and closing the achievement gap.
Over the years I've worked hard to ensure that our schools are safe, that our students have more than one avenue for success, and that our school district is accountable to the community.
Our drop-out rate is the lowest in decades, more of our students are going on to college, and our academic standards and graduation requirements are more rigorous than ever.
This is the path to success. With community support, our school district can continue building on its areas of excellence and persevering and advancing in the face of daunting challenges.
Answer from Frank Biehl:
Vision:
- Every student graduates prepared for college and careers
- Rigorous core academic classes including science, technology, engineering, math, are coupled with sports, music and fine art instruction to create well-rounded students
- Appropriate funding is provided from state, federal, and local sources.
- Education dollars are student focused, invested wisely and apportioned fairly
Implementation:
- Focus on instruction, establish goals and objectives to continuously improve academic achievement
- Hire a Superintendent with a track record of student success and hold him/her accountable with quarterly evaluations
- Build community support with a volunteer program and active alumni foundation using the money raised to hire a grant writing team
- Reform California's irrational school financing system
Answer from Robert "Bob" Nunez:
I want the District to be fiscally sound and out of Program Improvement in 5 years. Towards this end, the district needs to provide more flexibility so that principals and teachers at individual high schools have input and decision making into instructional programs; provide more academic magnet programs i.e., college bound; develop partnerships with educational entities(San Jose State University, National Hispanic University, Santa Clara University, Silicon Valley Educational Foundation, Californians for Justice, East Side Education Alliance)to assist in closing the achievement gap; align educational systems within the 7 partner districts and East Side Union High School District; develop a transparent budget process that includes community and educational partners input in budget development and expenditure decision making.
Responses to questions asked of each candidate
are reproduced as submitted to the League.
Candidates' responses are not edited or corrected by the League. Answers must not refer directly or indirectly to another candidate.
The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.
| 
League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
