Holy Toledo! Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Mike Enzi (R-WY) actually believe the 2011 rewrite of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965—reauthorized in 2002 as No Child Left Behind—can be voted on by the Senate by Thanksgiving and the House by Christmas. No way will this become a reality.

The first member of the Occupy San Jose protests to be cited at City Hall climbed a large wall in the plaza and was still there as of Monday morning. The man, identified by another protester as Shaun O’Kelly, reportedly climbed the wall in protest of other members of the movement being removed from city property.

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated from the original version. Occupy San Jose protestors did not relocate from City Hall to St. James Park. The standoff between Occupy San Jose protestors and City Hall resulted in the arrest of eight people early Friday morning. In response, protestors have vowed to continue airing their grievances with the nation’s financial inequalities.

Oakland A’s co-owner Lew Wolff wants to get a stadium built in San Jose, and he’s ready to purchase land in an effort to force MLB Commissioner Bud Selig’s hand in deciding if the team can relocate. On Tuesday, the City Council is meeting in closed session to discuss the sale of six properties to Wolff. A deal with Wolff would only make up half of the 14 acres needed for the stadium’s construction.

Some communities get it, and some don’t get it at all. It is truly amazing how things work when there is a vision and people with the talents to carry it out. Right now, a brand new two-story school building, built in record time on one acre of land in a residential neighborhood of San Jose, houses hundreds of K-3 grade students who are eager to learn.

For the second time in a month, a local Hells Angels member was shot to death in public. Steve Tausan, 52, was attending a funeral Saturday for the late president of the motorcycle club’s San Jose chapter, Jeffrey Pettigrew, who was killed in September in a casino shooting in Sparks, Nev. Pettigrew also worked as a city of San Jose employee.

Editor’s Note: Sparky Harlan, Executive Director/CEO at Bill Wilson Center, is a new columnist for San Jose Inside. She is a nationally recognized advocate for youth in foster care and in the juvenile justice system, as well as homeless and runaway youth.

Last week, Governor Jerry Brown signed a flurry of bills. One that missed the media’s attention was AB 194, authored by our own assemblyman, Jim Beall. As legislation goes, this was a simple bill—youth aging out of foster care (ages 18-24) will now have priority to register for classes in state community colleges and universities. There was no opposition to the bill. 

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed is out to protect the public from the “evil” purveyors of cannabis in his city. This is a losing battle. The majority of the people know prohibition is a failure. Reed’s attempt to shut down these healthcare advocates who provide medicine to their patients through an onerous and unworkable regulation scheme is about to see a huge backlash from the public.  A referendum is currently on the street that will challenge both the leader and his professed solution.

Some people said it was only a matter of time until Anthony Batts would leave his post as Oakland’s chief of police following his public and unsuccessful bid to become the head of the San Jose Police Department. Those people were right. Earlier this week, Batts offered the city of Oakland his resignation.

At last week’s Santa Clara County Board of Education meeting, there was nothing more important to me than the decision of whether or not to extend the Bullis K-8 Charter by five years. I wished to do so with wisdom and care. Depending on who you listen to, the four-hour debate was far too contentious and protracted. I wish to set the record straight from my perspective, knowing full well there are a variety of vantage pointes and views.

Why are we leaving so many children behind when educators know now how to get students prepared for a fulfilling and prosperous life? As a participant last week in the 3rd Annual Career Technical Education (CTE) conference, I became angry that we have not kept our eye on the ball. For example, why are there so many Silicon Valley job openings on LinkedIn and other career recruitment sites while the unemployment rate is more than 10 percent?

Police have reportedly arrested the man accused of killing Jeffrey Pettigrew, a city employee who was also president of the San Jose chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang. Pettigrew, who worked for the city of San Jose within the Dept. of Transportation, was shot in the back four times last week at John Ascuaga’s Nugget casino in Sparks, Nevada.

We live in an extraordinary community where you often hear stories of philanthropists writing large checks from their foundations to personal causes. Last week, Meg Whitman announced in East San Jose that she is giving $2.5 million to Summit Charter schools for 10 new 400 student high schools over the next decade. That same amount would pay for youth gang prevention services for up to 14 San Jose Schools in six districts for four years. Let me explain.

The Bay Area’s public school system sustained another groin kick of aggressive generosity Tuesday when politically ambitious billionaire Meg Whitman bestowed $2.5 million on South Bay and Peninsula charter school programs. Apparently, the maid-firing former eBay exec didn’t spend all her money losing last year’s race for governor to Jerry Brown.

While participating in last week’s Game Changers 2012 event, which focused on Silicon Valley’s economy and was sponsored by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, I had the sinking feeling that public education was in a baseball “pickle” and down to its last out.

It has been an honor for me to serve on the Board of Education for the Santa Clara County Office of Education. Sometimes it’s been rewarding, other times frustrating, but never boring. Here is a self-assessment, knowing full well any issue I might want to work on needs at least three other board members to agree.