High-speed rail looks like it’s on the fast track to nowhere as more people speak out against the project, while the BART system received some excellent news earlier this week. The Federal Transit Administration sent word earlier this week to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority that $900 million in federal funding has been recommended for approval. Construction crews could break ground as soon as this spring on a 10-mile extension that would take trains into the Berryessa neighborhood of San Jose.
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State Must Address Foster Youth Crisis
In my life, I have been inspired by bold and courageous individuals who worked tirelessly to give of themselves for the greater good of all people, especially those who are most needy. This region seems to have more than its fair share. Last week, I was proud to be present as a guest during State Assemblyman Jim Beall’s public hearing to develop an action plan for the state to better nurture the needs of foster youth.
Election Rejections
Iowa just held its Republican Primary to ring in the New Year, which means two things: It’s officially election season from now through Nov. 6, and the opinions of Iowans no longer matter. Much was made about the 2010 Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which, according to the court’s interpretation of the First Amendment, means the government can’t limit spending on elections by companies and nonprofits. A battle is now being fought at the local level in Milpitas, where community activist Ed Riffle is challenging the constitutionality of a new ordinance passed by the City Council that limits campaign contributions to $500 per election.
Milpitas Mayor Working Double Time?
The winter of discontent continues unabated for the Milpitas Monarch, Jose Esteves, who complained at last week’s City Council meeting of feeling harassed by Public Records Act requests. (Message to Mayor Esteves: If you already feel harassed, stop reading here.) It would be one thing if the PRA requests were coming from an angry citizen, but almost half of the 66 requests—which ask for phone records, emails, video surveillance, and dates and times the mayor used a key card to enter City Hall—came from Councilmember Debbie Giordano. It turns out the mayor, whom critics accuse of holding an unauthorized wedding on City Hall property earlier this year, may be up to more than just connubial biz.
Judgment Day for Rocketship
There is a game-changing local story about to take place in a few days. A decision before the SCCOE Board of Education is whether or not to approve 20 Rocketship Charter Schools on a countywide benefit charter basis. Each new school approval is listed as a separate action item on the Board’s agenda. The turf wars are just beginning.
Columnists Hit Mark on Fixing Education
We need career technical education and well-trained career counselors in every middle and high school in California. Columnists in local and national print media agree based on what I read Sunday, Dec. 4. Let me explain. Not everyone needs a 4-year college degree, but everyone must have requisite skills for the jobs of the 21st century in order to enjoy a middle-class income.
Teacher Unions Need to Lead Reform
We continue to attempt to build education reform from the top down rather than from the bottom up. Building a foundation with our two teachers’ unions (CTA and CFT) for lasting school reform—beginning with evaluation systems that are effective, pay for performance plans that work, and ending tenure as we know it today—is the only way we will hit a home run. Until then, our children and schools lose.
Thankful for Progress in Schools
This Thanksgiving we have so very much to be proud and thankful for relative to the education of underserved children living in the poorest areas of Santa Clara County. And last week’s decision to approve three new charter schools will prove to be one of the most important weeks in local school governance in decades.
CAVE People Are Killing Progress
Every major project has Citizens Against Virtually Everything (CAVE) people fighting against it. They hold up every good project, they hurt our economy, our progress and cost us money. But how many times can these people be wrong before they simply go away?
High-Speed Rail Could Skip South Bay
A report released Monday by the High-Speed Rail Authority reiterates the authority’s consistent argument: A tunnel and underground station will not work in San Jose. Business and neighborhood groups worry that the proposed elevated structure will be a huge and unsightly addition to the cityscape. What the report does not say — yet it is being discussed internally by HSRA officials — is that the city’s advocacy of a tunnel option could push the $98 billion high-speed rail line to take an alternative path.
It’s Hard Not to Love Election Season
A political comic strip/hit-piece lampooning Cupertino Mayor Gilbert Wong was sent to 7,200 Cupertino voters over the weekend, just two days before the city’s election on Tuesday. Titled “The Adventures of Gilbert Wrong, Mayor of Cupertino,” the comic strip sets out four different scenarios in which Wong is contacted by a secretary with someone waiting to bend the mayor’s ear. Nonetheless, Wong was able to be re-elected as mayor.
Sexual Harassment at Schools Must Stop
Due to the recent sexual harassment stories surfacing about Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, it was interesting to note that a new study surfaced Monday about school-age sexual harassment. The American Association of University Women released a major national study on 7-12th grade sexual harassment. Over nearly 2000 boys and girls from public and private schools were surveyed online in May and June 2011 on whether they had experienced sexual harassment. The AAUW findings indicate that during the 2010-11 school year 48 percent of students in grades 7-12 experienced some form of sexual harassment in person, electronically via texting (some refer to it as sexting), email and/or social media.
Should Cremation in City be Mandatory?
There are some topics that are difficult to talk candidly about, let along think about, among our family and friends. One of them is discussing our eventual death and the specifics that accompany end of life. Issues like a will, trust, medical power of attorney and funeral preparations are sensitive things to prepare for but prudent to do while we are still of sound mind and body. The above discussion relates to the new General Plan adopted by the City Council last week.
Grant Funding Vital in Light of Cutbacks
Over the last several months I have written two San Jose Inside columns on the Gates Foundation initiative to fund city/district/charter school collaborative compacts that bring meaningful cooperation and planning to the forefront of communities. Each time, I wrote that I had enormous hope that our collaborative compacts would be validated and funded by Gates. That hope, however, took a hit during a conference call with the foundation Monday.
Sheriff Smith Should Run for Mayor
Sheriff Laurie Smith always tells me she has the best job in the world, so why would she ever run for mayor of San Jose? It is hard to argue with logic like that—which is one reason she would make a great mayor. Smith, who lives in San Jose, is the most popular public figure in county government for good reason.
Beall Toils for State Senate Seat
The state redistricting committee threw a wrench in the careers of politicians throughout California this summer by redrawing the lines. As a result, one unexpected race will pit two local, union-friendly Democrats—Jim Beall and Joe Coto—against each other in the newly established 15th State Senate District.
