Spring can be a period of new beginnings for all of us. Or it can be more of the same: a war of words and posturing while some of our children fail to achieve their academic potential.

The inflammatory rhetoric, misguided leadership and pro corporate charter school stance of county education trustee Joseph Di Salvo and others has set the stage for the current battle being waged in local school districts.

The real secret to securing political power is, and always will be, voter turnout. Democrats win when there is heavy turnout, and Republicans win with lower turnout. It is just a fact. But what if voting wasn’t just a right for American citizens, but rather a requirement?

It is an outrage that Silicon Valley education leaders continue to choose battle ground over common ground. Despite extraordinary innovation that occurs everyday in our region, our education leaders too often choose to protect the status quo.

Marketing is for terrible people, and art is for people who don’t realize they’re terrible. Leave it to an $85,000 city-sponsored “art project” highlighting San Jose’s sewer system to synergize the two.

Trustee Leon Beauchman will step down at the end of this month from his elected seat on the Santa Clara County Board of Education. I first learned of his decision during a call from him in February. It was a bittersweet moment.

Silicon Valley was once the female capital of the world for political power, but times have changed. In order to make progress, we need to not only elect more women leaders but also change the culture in which they are forced to compete.

Last week I attended the Children's Summit 2015 at Microsoft’s offices in Mountain View. In the packet for the workshop, I found a state budget analysis with the provocative headline, "Proposed State Budget Doesn't Do Enough For Kids.” When will we ever learn? Before it’s too late, I hope.

The Greater and Greener Conference, a leading international symposium for urban parks, takes place in San Francisco next month.

Hillary Clinton’s recent appearance in Silicon Valley highlighted the culture divide in today’s world. Clinton, as much as Barack Obama did in 2008, represents a culture change for our nation and the globe.

The current conundrum at City Hall has been exacerbated by the inability of personalities to work together on Measure B and pension reform. Mayor Sam Liccardo and his opponents should try to find at least one issue on which they agree.

Similar to SpaceX, the state's new Smarter Balanced Assessment System (SBAC) will eventually yield results that are worth the trial and error.

The anger expressed by San Jose Inside commenters regarding payouts to former city executives is representative of the public at large. A substantial segment of the population doesn’t believe taxpayer money is being used effectively; excessive payouts simply reinforce that idea.

Can likely Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton show true authenticity on the campaign trail while also exhibiting a commitment to early childhood education?

For years political mail and TV commercials have made up the bulk of campaign spending. But it’s clear that the same tired tactics are not working.

Why have we not placed more emphasis on Career Technical Education (CTE)? It’s not an easy question to answer.