League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA November 6, 2012 Election
	Balaji R. Venkatraman Answers Questions Candidate for Board Member; Evergreen School District

The questions were prepared by the Leagues of Women Voters of Santa Clara County and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

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?

Our school district relies heavily on state funding to provide educational services to our students. With 15 Elementary Schools and 3 Junior High Schools serving more than 13,300 students, we take our fiduciary and legal obligations to manage the public funds as directed by law.

As a district, the Board and Administration work very closely to follow the budget development and reporting cycle. The district is fortunate to have a highly qualified CFO as a full time employee. Along with the Superintendent, we rely on the expertise and judgment of the CFO in the day to day management of the district finances.

Using the 3 year vision and objective that was developed in collaboration with the board of trustees, administration, community leaders and representatives from the bargaining units, as the guide, we allocate resources (funds and staff) to programs that have the potential to make the highest positive impact on 1)student achievement, student safety and development 2)staff compensation and career development 3)a welcoming and clean school campus to foster learning 4)Supporting families so they can support their children's academic achievement with programs such as Parent University

Public meetings are held to educate the community about the arcane school budget and gather the community's input on goals and priorities before each budget cycle.

Whenever a discussion about budget is in the board agenda, we take extra effort to invite all the stakeholders and the community at-large to attend the meetings so that everyone understands the fiscal climate of the district and can give us feedback.

Finally, we hire independent auditors to review and report on the fiscal state and the integrity of the process and controls on an annual basis. I am proud to note that EESD has not had any adverse findings in the auditor's reports.

2. Are the schools offering instruction appropriate to the diverse educational abilities of all the students?

Our goal is to offer differentiated instruction so that we meet the educational requirements of each student, in the context of their intellectual development and emotional maturity.

We hire the best qualified teachers and give them the class room resources and training to identify the needs of each individual child and tailor the classroom instruction accordingly. The teachers are also augmented with "Prep teachers" (specialists) who come into class for Science and Arts.

We are introducing technology in the class room so that teachers and set up self-paced lesson plans and help child learn and understand the materials. Recognizing that different students learn and absorb information, we are introducing Project Based Learning where learning takes place within the context of larger projects or problems. Our teachers design challenging projects, tied to the state standards, that meet the needs and interests of their students. Students collaborate to acquire and apply knowledge for solving real-world problems. Our approach to teaching fundamentally changes the role of the teacher and student. Teachers become facilitators and coaches who guide students to take charge of their own learning, invent their own solutions, and develop self-management techniques.

Evergreen school district also has an excellent Special Ed and English Language Learner (ELL) programs; last year we graduated more than 525 ELL students to Advanced or Proficient.

3. Where do you want the District to be five years from now? What steps should the District take to get there?

1.Continue to focus on student achievement This has been and will continue to be the primary goal of Evergreen elementary school district. To achieve this, we will hire the best teachers, coach and train them and provide them the resources to offer differentiated instruction to each student. We will closely monitor the testing and other data to see if we can identify any sub-groups that require additional help (instructional, emotional or otherwise) and make those resources available so that every student can achieve his or her potential.

2.Introduce 21st century learning in each classroom, every school

Starting with a pilot program this year where we introduced "Bulldog Tech", a school within a school offering 21st century learning environment via Project based learning, we want to expand it to every school. This requires a district wide technology refresh/adoption program and we have developed and approved a plan to accomplish this. Now we need to invest in the staff and train them in the new instructional methodologies and invest in the facilities and upgrade them for the 21st century

3.Hire the best staff at each level EESD has one of the best staff (administrators, teachers and classified) of any district in Santa Clara County; we are also in the top 10 % in terms of overall compensation. Our goal is to continue to hire the best talent on the market (within and outside the district), encourage career development and training of the staff, recognize the contributions of individuals and promote from within the ranks.

I want our staff to see employment at EESD as their preferred career choice and a place where they can excel at their craft and provide for their families, and contribute to the community that they live and work in.

4.Achieve fiscal stability in the face of severe budget cuts In these economic times with severe and continuing budget cuts, maintaining the fiscal stability becomes a singular challenge. We face on going revenue pressure while expecting to cater to the education needs of a diverse student population, evolving curriculum and teaching paradigms (21st century learning) etc.

The biggest challenge we face here is the just and fair allocation of resources to the various stakeholders in EESD, in particular, the compensation package of the teachers and classified staff. We have to address the growing healthcare costs and the unfunded retirement liabilities.

We strive to develop and maintain a cordial and working relationship with the bargaining units; working with them, we expect to arrive at the right allocation of resources over the long term.

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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.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 8, 2012 13:31
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