League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Santa Clara County, CA November 2, 2010 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Board Member; Saratoga Union School District; 4 Year Term

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 Instruction, Future Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. Are the schools offering instruction appropriate to the diverse educational abilities of all the students? Answer from Patty Buchanan: Our school district does a great job of providing a range of diverse educational experiences to inspire and support learning. Our teachers spend time learning about differentiation, multiple intelligences, pedagogical research and best practices used by other educators in order to enhance their own teaching styles and engage the students in their classrooms. However, there is always room for improvement. The mission of our district is to educate and inspire ALL our students. One of the biggest challenges we face is how to continue training our teachers and provide relevant educational activities to the students in light of the current budget crisis. It will take creativity, teamwork and dedication to fulfill our mission in the coming years. Answer from Michael A. Gipe: The Saratoga student population is surprisingly diverse, with dozens of different languages spoken in the home, and a full spectrum of academic and social challenges. One of the overarching goals of the Saratoga School District is to provide the best educational opportunity for all students, whatever their background, skills, and talents. Our schools generally achieve this goal, but there is always room for improvement, which is why I have strongly advocated for continued training for administrators and teachers to better serve our diverse student population. 2. Where do want the district to be 5 years from now? What steps should the district take to get there? Answer from Patty Buchanan: Our schools have the daunting charge of preparing our students for the 21st century. I believe that includes being academically successful, caring and responsible citizens and culturally competent individuals. Although a tall order, five years from now, I would like to see our district excelling in those three fronts. It will take the concerted efforts of our educators, administrators, parents and the community as a whole to achieve this goal. In order to continue our academic excellence, we must provide teachers with the tools needed to successfully educate our children. That includes the training, materials, supplies and technology to be able to do their jobs properly. We also need to keep investing in our social-emotional curriculum so that students learn how to be responsible adults. Project Cornerstone is an excellent example of a program that will do that, and it has just been introduced to all our schools. Lastly, we live in a diverse community, which gives us a unique opportunity to learn about other cultures and prepare our students for a global economy. We need to find ways to seize that opportunity and help our students grow to be culturally competent adults. Answer from Michael A. Gipe: The world that our students will encounter when they graduate will be much different than today's world, just as computers and cell phones make this world much different than the world in which we grew up. Our schools must prepare students for the 21st century, giving them the skills necessary for success in an environment that we can only imagine. One of the strategic goals that the board has set for the district for the next three years is to define what a 21st century school should look like, and what steps we need to take to get there. The expertise of our entire community will be needed to create this vision. 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.