According to Carolyn Bucior, who is writing a memoir about substitute teaching, 5.2 percent of teachers nationwide are absent on any given day, a rate three times as high as that of other professionals and one and a half times higher than teachers in Britain. Regular full-time teachers receive 10 sick days per year, by collective bargaining agreement.

By the time a student completes 12th grade he has had substitute teachers for almost one year of his 13 years of schooling.

As this week brings news of our local unemployment rate just beginning to taper downward, local businesses are peering out from their frozen dens for the first signs of Spring.  That’s of little solace to thousands of our families still losing their homes and jobs, but it does raise a crucial question as we try to get people back to work: how can we best communicate to businesses that they should make San José the place to grow?

Due to the structural budget deficit and the decline of tax revenues coming into the city, the January police academy has been postponed indefinitely. By postponing the academy the city saves money but risks neighborhood safety.

This is SJI’s weekly open forum, where opinions on any topic are welcome. What’s on your mind?

I continue to be amazed, and at times, amused by the quality and tone of some of the arguments being made by some politicians and fans wanting to bring the A’s to San Jose.  One of the central arguments being put forward is that the Giants don’t have a “right” to deny the people of San Jose a baseball team.  In fact, they do.  Major League Baseball extended the territorial rights to Santa Clara County to the San Francisco Giants.  That’s a fact, and nothing’s going to change that, unless, and until, the baseball owners change their minds and vote to reverse their decision.  Not likely.

Why is public education failing too many of its client students? Why does the achievement gap still persist in most of our schools? Taking the macro view I wonder: Is this a systems problem or a human capital problem? Or both? On Friday of last week I attended the professional development seminar sponsored by the Santa Clara County Office of Education and SJ2020. During the morning presentation by nationally renowned researcher Dr. Robert Marzano, the 250 conference attendees learned he believes it is a systems problem not a teacher capital problem.

The City of San Jose has contracted with a public opinion survey company to poll residents on the city’s budget in a project fondly known as “the City of San Jose Budget Prioritization Survey.” The control group of the survey is 900 residents representing the entire City.  They will be contacted by home and cell phones.

It’s San Jose Inside’s weekly open forum, where readers set the agenda for topics of discussion. What’s on your mind?
NOTE: If you would like your commentary to be considered for publication in this week’s Metro, please include your full name and city of residence.

The “Census Tour” came to San Jose last week in an effort to promote awareness about the upcoming Census campaign.  San Jose residents will be asked ten questions.  Some of the questions are centered exclusively on race and ethnicity.  And, amazingly, one question contains labels that some people find offensive.

As a current County Office of Education Trustee and former school principal I am very concerned about our Silicon Valley school preparedness for an earthquake disaster. It’s like the Bay Area is sitting on an explosive device equal to the size of a huge bunker- busting bomb and we do not know when it will detonate. Doesn’t it seem our schools should be ready for the inevitable detonation?

I am one of the members who sits on the South Bay Recycled Water Committee, representing San Jose. This committee has investigated and is now recommending a partnership with the Santa Clara Valley Water District to move forward with recycled water and jointly build an advanced water treatment plant.

SJI’s weekly open forum is a place to post ideas and opinions about any issue. What’s on your mind?

This is a big year for the City of San Jose and its future. The City faces a $100 million budget deficit. Mayor Reed and the rest of the council will have to pull the proverbial rabbit out of a hat. Unfortunately, things may get worse before they get any better. Truth is, there’s no rabbit…there may not even be a hat!

There is a Choice Revolution going on in public education today. Charter schools are at the heart of the increasing number of educational options available to parents—and public-school choice is generally a good outcome of the charter movement.

The federal program Race to the Top, which makes $4.35 billion available to states, requires that they lift caps which now limit the number of new charter schools. Locally, we are likely to see a huge growth in the number of charter schools without the 100-per-year cap imposed by the state of California.

I turned 40 in December. I spent my birthday with family and long-time friends. Many of my friends I have known since age five, from kindergarten in San Jose Unified School District, which equates to knowing most of my friends for more than 30 years. The majority of my friends are not political in their occupations and nearly all of them have never been to a San Jose Council meeting. Instead, they are teachers, nurses, Realtors, attorneys, tech folks, blue-collar skilled tradesmen, stay-at-home parents and—as my Mom likes to point out— most are married with children.

Many of my native San Jose friends have a very positive outlook towards San Jose. Their views are somewhat different than what I hear in my council office, where, typically, I hear alot about what is wrong with our city or questions as to why things aren’t done differently.

This is a special New Year’s weekend edition of San Jose Inside’s weekly open forum. We would like to invite SJI visitors to answer the following question: What would you like to see happen in 2010 to make San Jose a better place?