League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Santa Clara County, CA November 6, 2012 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Board Member; Campbell Union School District

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 Use of Funds, Appropriate Instruction, District Goals 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 Leah K. Read: There are a number of ways in which the board evaluates the use of funds, some of these include budget updates, our annual data study session, individual school's Single Plan For Student Achievement, regular progress reports on programs and assessments. All of these reports are presented at board meetings during open session and I actively encourage members of the community to attend. Another tool that I use is school site visits. Every year I visit each school site to tour classrooms and discuss activities and programs with the school's administration. This gives me first hand experience as to the effectiveness of the programs and student engagement. It also allows me the opportunity to talk with teachers and staff to get their perspective on what is happening at their site. In addition, this October the District held its State of the District event at the Campbell Community center. The District addressed families, staff, and the community and updated them on the current status of the district. Topics included the district background, number of students and schools, academic success, review of funding sources, and budget allocations. Answer from Michael Snyder: As a board member, I will make sure that the schools are using funds wisely and fairly. I shall prudently manage and administer our tax dollars. I will make sure that all decisions are weighed carefully and that the ultimate goal is the success of our children's education. I will continue to seek out advice regarding the laws and regulations that govern our spending. All funds need to be accounted for and there has to be constant evaluations happening to determine if the programs for intervention are successful. All money spent needs to be aligned with the District's Strategic Plan. I will report my findings to the community at large. I plan to visit the local neighborhood associations and give them updates about what the board is doing. I will make sure that the teachers, principals, parents, classified staff and community members are continually informed about what is happening in the district. Answer from Juliet Tiffany-Morales: As a current school board member, I use several processes and activities to determine whether our schools are using funds wisely and fairly: visiting schools, reviewing and approving school site plans and budget allocations, and reviewing data on outcomes related to the school plans. I visit schools every year also allow me to observe first hand, the programs schools are supporting with federal, state, and local funds. As a professional education researcher, I also compare what our schools are implementing with the most current research to determine whether our schools are spending funds in ways that have been shown to result in positive outcomes for students. In addition, each year the school site councils at each of our 12 schools submit school site plans for board approval. School site plans are aligned to district priorities and outline what schools will be doing to meet those priorities. The plans also include how much the school will spend on each effort. In addition to reviewing and approving school site plans, the board reviews a variety of data each year on the efforts our schools have undertaken with the support of federal, state, and local funds. Board members attend an annual data study session, where we review student results and assess the progress of our schools toward their goals. Principals from each of the schools present to the board annually, providing an analysis of the successes and challenges the schools have had in implementing the efforts laid out in their site plans. District administrators also present their analysis of the effectiveness of programs and activities in our schools at board meetings throughout the year. I am pleased that the review and approval of school site plans, presentations by principals and district administrators, and board study sessions all occur in open, public meetings; the community is welcome to attend. I also recognize that other means of communicating with our diverse community are necessary. In addition to sending district residents a newsletter highlighting the efforts and successes of our districts' schools, this year the district will host a community meeting in October to discuss the current state of the district and schools. I expect this community meeting to become an annual event. 2. Are the schools offering instruction appropriate to the diverse educational abilities of all the students? Answer from Leah K. Read: Campbell Union School District has made a concerted effort to address the achievement gap. We have implemented a number of extensive intervention programs and trained our teachers in Guided Language Acquisition and Development (GLAD) and Systematic English Language Development (or Systematic ELD) and are providing coaching and support to implement these strategies. To address the needs of our high achieving students we added professional development for teachers in Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) and have increased the number of teachers who have been GATE certified. All three of our middle schools offer Avid (Advancement Via Individual Determination), which is a college readiness system that increases learning and performance. More recently we have provided training to our science teachers in MESA (Math, Engineering, Science Achievement) and implemented this program at one of our middle schools. Closing the achievement gap is a hot topic in education and the board needs to remain diligent in its focus to address this issue while not losing site of the needs of ALL of our students. Quality professional development in GLAD, Systematic ELD, and GATE provides our teachers with tools and strategies to reach all of our learners. We focus on targeted instruction and ensure the needs of each individual student are being met. Answer from Juliet Tiffany-Morales: Meeting the diverse educational needs of our students is challenging but there is a commitment in our district to continuously improve and regularly investigate new research findings and programs that may help us better serve all our students. Meeting the diverse educational abilities of all students has been a priority for our schools, our district, and our school board. During my time on the board, our board governance team has committed resources to support the implementation of efforts that differentiate instruction based on the needs of students. For example, several schools in our district have implemented a structure that groups students based on their literacy level for targeted instruction. The board has supported the implementation of this new structure with resources to ensure that the new structure is being implemented in the most effective way. We have also committed resources to teacher training that supports meeting our students' diverse educational needs, such as Guided Language Acquisition Design or GLAD. Teachers throughout the district have attended intensive GLAD training and are implementing GLAD lessons in their classrooms. The GLAD lessons I have observed engage students at all levels while meeting their diverse educational needs. Our district is also supporting certification training in Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) for teachers throughout the district to meet the needs of our gifted students. In addition to school structures and teacher training, our schools also use a variety of computer programs to target instruction to students' individual levels in language arts and mathematics. Answer from Michael Snyder: Yes, the schools are offering appropriate instruction to the diverse educational needs of all students. Some strengths are; improvement in API, new construction, full day kindergarten, pre-school, class size reduction, and being a choice decision for junior high. Campbell schools continue to improve their API. Many of Campbell schools are over 800. This is truly awesome. Children who attend full day kindergarten learn about 40% more reading and math than half day students. That can help close the achievement gap. Children who attend preschool can help learn social skills, basic school interactions and procedures as well help with the achievement gap. Class size reduction still in effect is huge. Many schools have to raise class sizes to 25 to 30 which make it difficult for differentiation in the classroom and meeting the needs of all students. Finally, giving parents the choice for their children to stay at their home school through 5th grade is awesome. Campbell is also leading the way in Positive Behavioral Intervention System. Technology continues to play an important role in the Campbell Union. There is a 1 computer to every 4 students. Most of the computers are under five years old too. 3. Where do you want the District to be five years from now? What steps should the District take to get there? Answer from Juliet Tiffany-Morales: I want Campbell Union School District to be at the forefront of implementing the new state standards so that we are preparing our students for the complexities of the 21st century. Over the next five years, we will see some significant changes in public education. We will have a new set of academic standards + the Common Core State Standards + and new statewide tests. Students will take those new assessments on computers (if the technology can be put into place across the state). The new standards and assessments will focus more on critical thinking and require that our students have a deeper understanding of the subjects they are learning. It is not enough for our students to be able to choose the right answer on a multiple-choice test. Our students need to have an academic foundation that will allow them to apply what they have learned in new situations and settings. And that academic foundation should include strong instruction in the core content areas of English, mathematics, sciences, and social studies, as well as in the arts. Strong instruction will necessarily include meeting the different academic needs of our students and implementing instructional strategies and school structures that support this differentiation. I want our instructional practices, our schools, and our district to be seen as models of best practices. I want all of our students to feel connected to and experience success in our schools and to be inspired to continue learning. Currently Campbell Union School District is an active participant in countywide efforts to prepare for teaching to the new Common Core State Standards. We should continue to participate in this collaborative. Our district is also active in other county and regional efforts as well as professional organizations, and we should continue our participation so that we are aware of new promising practices and efforts. Our district will need to provide the support teachers and support staff need to make changes in their practice through training as well as coaching. District administrators will also need to evaluate whether current structures, policies, and procedures support implementation of the new standards and align with the diverse needs of all our students. Answer from Leah K. Read: It is the vision of the Campbell Union School District to be a model for innovative programs and instruction that engages, empowers and inspires all children to thrive. This is where I would like the district to be and I truly believe this is possible. We have already taken steps towards achieving this vision. The arrival of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) provides us with the opportunity to examine our current practices and to find new and innovative programs that address these standards. CUSD has many enthusiastic and inspiring leaders who are working hard to keep the district in the forefront of implementation of CCSS. We need to continue to support and encourage this creative thinking as well as provide training and coaching to our teachers. In addition, CUSD is in the process of launching our STEAM Initiative. This initiative augments the more commonly know STEM initiative (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) but adds Art as CUSD believes the Arts are an important part of learning and should not be left out. STEAM is an interdisciplinary approach to learning that will provide rigorous academic concepts along with real world problem and performance based lessons. I am happy to say that I will be a member of the STEAM committee that will bring together board members, teachers, administrators, professors, industry leaders and parents who will help guide this initiative. Answer from Michael Snyder: I want the district to continue to provide a great education to our students. Students who leave the Campbell Union School district should be proud of the education they received, the way I was. I want to be proud that I was a team player on the board and we met the needs of the strategic plan and wisely completed it. I think there are many changes on the horizon for school districts. Many of those changes will come through the issue of common core standards. Common core standards are going to provide new benchmarks, technologies, and textbooks. Implementing the common cores must to be communicated and implemented wisely. In five years, I hope the board is picking the right interventions to close the achievement gap for the kids who are far below basic. We are in an age of technology that has many benefits and also disadvantages. It is a powerful medium for teaching, but it has also caused disconnect among people. We are teaching our children through this medium, but are they truly learning how to interact with society? Changes in curriculum are happening and yet all kids are concerned about is T.V., video games, computers and phones. Kids don't play anymore outside. They have become sedentary and that is why we have an obesity problem in the United States. Education has to implement this new technology but also keep the rudimentary aspects of school. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. Please answer each question in no more than 400 words. Direct references to opponents are not permitted. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.