Happy 4th of July from SJI’s Rants & Raves. Thoughts and comments on patriotism, citizenship, independence and (yes) fireworks are welcome, as are thoughts on any topic.

What a week it was, and I am not just talking about Michael Jackson’s tragic and sad death…A newly released Civil Grand Jury Report titled, “Who Really Benefits from Educational Dollars?” (Hint: It’s not the students), and the calculated demise of the 117-year-old school/district known as Montebello, were discussion points at weekend gatherings.

The consent calendar on the city council agenda comes after the City’s ceremonial items are completed. The difference between “consent” items and the rest of the agenda is that the consent items are suppose to be composed of “rubber stamp” issues like excused absences for councilmembers, final adoption of ordinances that were already voted on at previous council meetings, etc. As a result, all the consent items are voted on at once.  However, any councilmember or member of the public has the right to “pull” an item from the consent calendar which requires that the item be voted on separately than the rest.

It’s SJI’s open forum, and today’s topic is anything you want it to be. What’s on your mind?

Santa Clara County’s poet laureate Nils Peterson may not have written a word of it, but he was proud to announce that the county’s official poem has finally been completed. The poem, entitled “A Family Album; Santa Clara County 2009,” was composed by hundreds of local residents, each of whom contributed a line. Peterson then selected 100 lines and fashioned them into a poem, divided into such sections as Work, People, Our Lives, What Was Lost, What’s Here, and The Look of Our Place.

When it comes to schools and classrooms, the prevailing wisdom is smaller is better. When you ask parents, teachers, administrators or counselors whether 20 students in a classroom is better than 30 for the overall quality of education you usually get an emphatic “yes.”  Unfortunately, the latest California budget crisis has led San Jose Unified’s Board of Education to vote for the elimination of class size reduction in K-3 for most of its elementary schools, on Superintendent Iglesias’ reluctant recommendation.

The 2009-2010 budget passed with full support of the Council in part by draining the City’s reserves (the economic uncertainty reserve has only enough funds to cover 1.5 days of payroll now) and by the negotiated/voluntary salary freezes by two unions CAMP and MEF (thank you).

In the case of MEF the money saved can be used to avoid layoffs and retain library hours. This tradeoff is good for residents and good for those who would have been laid off, since they would face a job market that has the highest unemployment rate since 1941.

All opinions on any topic are welcome on SJI’s weekly open forum. What’s on your mind?

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom delivered an optimistic message about California’s prospects to members of the San Jose Rotary Club Wednesday. With a Kennedy-esque call to “renew the spirit of imagination” that has defined the state, the candidate for governor called California “a state not just of dreamers, but of doers and entrepreneurs.”

What do Principal Ken Schlaff from Milpitas High School and Coach Stan Van Gundy of the Orlando Magic have in common?  For one thing both had the public on their case for the decisions each made this week.

Now that Cattelus Development has walked away from developing the Santa Clara Fairgrounds, I hope the County will consider something other than housing.  Perhaps a fee based sports complex or even…a horse track. Currently, the Fairgrounds is home to off-track betting for horseraces, an operation called San Jose Fair Downs. Since gambling already exists at the Fairgrounds, why then not consider a racetrack?

It’s rants vs. raves in this week’s episode of San Jose Inside’s open forum. All opinions on any topic are welcome.

Dear kindly Trustee DiSalvo
You gotta understand,
It’s just our bringin’ up-ke
That gets us out of hand.
Our mothers all are junkies,
Our fathers all are drunks.
Golly, Blogger Raj, it is the grading in school
That gives us that ANXIETY

More enlightened police strategy appears to be taking hold in downtown San Jose´s entertainment zone. In the past, aggressive law enforcement tactics resulted in large numbers of public-intoxication arrests and lawsuits from club owners and members of the public, as well as packed council hearings, heated public debates over racial profiling and complaints of economic damage to downtown’s business community. Faced with community uproar, fiscal issues and political pressure, SJPD seems to have gotten the message.

The Nederlander Organization is here to stay, and Broadway is finally returning to San Jose, California. Quite a few local politicos and arts organization heavyweights rolled into the Center for Performing Arts today for the announcement that Nederlander will be the exclusive presenter of touring Broadway productions and other special gigs in the CPA, beginning in September.

The average U.S. student watches 1,500 hours of TV annually while spending only 1,100 hours in school. If we continue to increase TV viewing while decreasing time in school, we end up with an equation that threatens the underpinnings of our democracy.