More than 100 volunteers, including the highly-energized San Jose Sharks Foundation, recently came out to help build a playground in one pleasant day of sweaty grunt work.

Every middle and high school student in San Jose should be required to see and discuss the film 'Cesar Chavez: An American Hero.' His story still resonates with today's struggle for education reform.

Almost all of the laws that govern contribution and spending limits are unconstitutional. But everybody should have to play by the same wrong rules.

Santa Clara County was once the nation's capital for electing women into office. But a look at our current political landscape shows successful female candidates have become scarcer.

The recent poll showing Dave Cortese in first place—and Madison Nguyen in second—for the San Jose mayor’s race must have been a shock to the Sam Liccardo camp. So much so, that Liccardo released his own polling information showing him now in second.

The frequency of posts by the Mercury News' new political blog has been herky-jerky, but that isn’t the only aspect of the gossip site that’s missed a beat.

Gov. Jerry Brown, in his first stint in Sacramento, was a bold and courageous leader. But today, the 75-year-old Brown refuses to support a cost-effective intervention of the achievement gap. Continuing down the path we’re on is suicide.

The people behind a poll should be a critical factor in analyzing the results.

Mayoral candidate Madison Nguyen lays out her plan to create a Mayor’s Business Advocate (MBA) position.

The first poll for the San Jose mayor’s race came out this week, and county Supervisor Dave Cortese sits atop the pack. This really isn’t surprising. What’s interesting is the fight for second.

So many of the higher paying jobs in our valley involve some aspect of computing and programming. A story in the Mercury News this past weekend highlighted the issue of access to technology by gender.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” That is the mentality of most large bureaucratic institutions, and San Jose State University is no different.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation granted $100,000 to Franklin McKinley School District to fund startup costs to promote collaboration between the traditional public school district and all its charter schools. The possibility that this seed money can lead to a much larger piece of the Gates Foundation Collaborative Compact financial pie is real, and predicated on the effort and results of the start-up phase. Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee Joseph DiSalvo says that in order to radically impact student achievement and graduation rates in San Jose, especially for students of color and those living in poverty, we must work with all publicly-funded partners to reach new heights of high achievement for all. Too many efforts and public dollars are going into litigation in the old toxic model of competition between districts and charters.

San Jose’s Election Code is, like all laws in our democracy, a work in progress. So while the intent of each and every provision may be benevolently intended to lead us toward a more perfect political paradigm, it’s not a stretch to say revisions are in order. With the first campaign finance reports for Mayoral and Council elections due today, it’s appropriate to start by following the money. Regulations governing limits on individual donations and campaign spending are both worthy topics. But there’s enough grist there to write a novel. Instead, I’d prefer to look at a policy that is relatively unique to San Jose: the 180-day fundraising window for council and mayoral candidates.

Mike Wasserman, president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, gave an inspirational State of the County address Tuesday. While talking about public safety, he related the story of his mother being rushed to the emergency room by local firefighters, who helped save her life. It was a personal story that showed the role government plays and the everyday services that some people take for granted.

Two eagerly awaited American events take place this week: the State of the Union address and the Super Bowl. The broadcast audience for Super Bowl XLVIII on Sunday will be significantly larger than the President’s State of the Union address on Tuesday. However, there should be no doubt that the state of the National Football League—concussion issues aside—is better than our Union’s.