Without question Matthews is a brilliant choice to be an interim councilmember. She is smart, experienced and understands San Jose. Adding to her credentials, she has previously served as the District 4 council member.

People opposed to incoming Mayor-elect Sam Liccardo are also concerned with an interim appointment to the District 4 council seat, fearing it will give the mayor a governing majority. The truth is Liccardo already has a majority.

With new school board members being sworn in this month, county Board of Education trustee Joseph Di Salvo presents his list of key goals for the next two years.

A proposal to relocate students within San Jose Unified School District appears to have been made with the best of intentions. However, it seems these decisions were rushed within the last two months and did not include all possible solutions.

San Jose’s City Council decided that District 4 residents will have a special election to fill the seat of Kansen Chu, who is moving on to the State Assembly. They could have simply appointed someone—a far better and less expensive option.

I am thankful that my current work—in my seventh decade of life—has given me a rich opportunity to work with amazing people. I am particularly thankful for the educators, policy makers and community leaders who work tirelessly to promote equity.

As we turn the page on the election, Sam Liccardo and Dave Cortese each have an enormous responsibility to heal the wounds created by the race. Doing so could go a long way toward accomplishing city and county goals, such as eliminating the achievement gap in our schools.

San Jose's new mayor faces huge challenges. The most striking problem is not simply putting more cops on the street, though it is an important goal. The real work will be bringing a divided city together.

What do Tuesday's election results mean for education reform? Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee Joseph DiSalvo breaks it down by state, county and district.

Houston, we have a problem. Public education is facing its own Apollo 13 moment. If fundamental issues are not addressed an inevitable catastrophic ending will occur.

While Silicon Valley copes with its dependence on imported water, our neighbors in Santa Cruz are striving to rely entirely on their local water supply.

Stupid local laws and the rise of unfettered independent expenditure committees are making a mockery of the election process. Candidates are no longer in control of their own messages and in many local races they are not relevant to the debate.

City and county governments must operate with less money, while citizens still expect the same level of services. Two recent partnerships show great work can still be done in this new paradigm.

Usually, the race for California’s highest public school office lacks suspense. This year is a notable exception.

The city of Santa Clara’s success is largely due to its political leadership. Elected leaders in Cupertino, on the other hand, have been an embarrassment, and none of those incumbents should be allowed to return to office.

Santa Clara County Board of Education trustee Joseph DiSalvo examines how Silicon Valley's public schools routinely fail to secure grant funding for STEM education.