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Candidates vying for seats on the Santa Clara County Board of Training shared their priorities Thursday with a packed home.
Greater than 500 college students, dad and mom and elected officers turned out for a candidate discussion board hosted by nonprofit Rocketship Public Colleges, a constitution faculty system inside the county. Candidates addressed points starting from psychological well being assist in colleges to the significance of working with underserved communities.
The Santa Clara County Workplace of Training oversees greater than 30 faculty districts, offering tutorial applications in addition to monitoring colleges’ tutorial progress and funds. The board of schooling consists of seven members representing completely different components of the county.
4 candidates are operating for 2 open seats on the board of schooling. Three out of the 4 candidates have been current together with Maimona Afzal Berta, Magdalena Carrasco and Natalie Prcevski. Raeena Lari was absent. Incumbent Tara Sreekrishnan additionally participated. She is operating unopposed in November to retain her seat.
Households ought to have their voices represented as colleges transcend the classroom to turn out to be group hubs, stated Yesenia Fernandez, co-chair of the occasion and Rocketship mum or dad volunteer. Board of schooling management is very essential for constitution colleges, whose charters are renewed and authorised by board members.
“Every little thing begins with schooling,” Fernandez informed San Jose Highlight. “I actually hope that within the subsequent 4 years the people who sit on this board actually contemplate what it’s our college students really want.”
Prime priorities
Franklin-McKinley Faculty District board member Maimona Afzal Berta and District 5 San Jose Metropolis Councilmember Magdalena Carrasco, who phrases out in December, are each competing for the Space 6 seat. The seat is presently held by Peter Ortiz, who’s operating for the town council seat in District 5. Space 6 is predicated in East San Jose and consists of Alum Rock Union Faculty District, Franklin-McKinley Faculty District, Mt. Nice Faculty District and components of East Facet Union Excessive Faculty District and San Jose Unified Faculty District.
Berta stated her priorities embody a number of pathways to varsity and profession readiness, early schooling and making certain equal entry to assets and applications equivalent to baby care. A current report revealed that free, public baby care would allow greater than 7,000 Santa Clara County households, particularly low-income households, to afford primary wants with out help.
“We’ve a singular place to be sure that we’re offering high quality, wonderful, equitable tutorial insurance policies for everybody to be taught,” Berta stated.
Carrasco stated her focus is on connecting college students to psychological well being assets and households to early schooling and different instruments.
“I need to be sure that our households and our kids have alternatives in order that they will go forward and resolve what they need to do with their future,” Carrasco stated.
Constitution Faculty Basis Secretary Natalie Prcevski is going through off in opposition to Santa Clara County Well being Advisory Commissioner Raeena Lari for the Space 7 seat, which incorporates Evergreen Faculty District, Morgan Hill Unified Faculty District, Gilroy Unified Faculty District and components of Oak Grove Faculty District and East Facet Union Excessive Faculty District. Claudia Rossi presently holds the seat and won’t run for reelection after an unsuccessful bid for the District 1 Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors seat in June.
Lari declined to take part within the discussion board.
Prcevski stated her priorities are addressing scholar psychological well being, constructing stronger relationships between colleges and communities and shutting the educational achievement hole. State and county efforts have pushed for expanded entry to early schooling for youngsters youthful than age 5.
“I am operating as a result of I need to propel tutorial achievement for all college students throughout the county and throughout all ranges of learners,” Prcevski stated.
Incumbent Tara Sreekrishnan represents Space 2, together with Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union Excessive Faculty District, Cupertino Union Faculty District, Lakeside Joint Union Faculty District, Loma Prieta Joint Union Faculty District, Los Gatos Union Faculty District and Saratoga Union Faculty District. The world additionally consists of components of Santa Clara Unified Faculty District.
Sreekrishnan stated her continued targets embody early schooling and scholar psychological well being. The county can also be specializing in increasing local weather change schooling and environmental literacy, she stated.
Policymaking in schooling
Candidates have been requested how they’d prioritize schooling over politics, which has turn out to be a scorching button problem this election cycle. They have been questioned about tutorial insurance policies pertaining to constitution faculty renewals and faculty funding.
All of the candidates stated households ought to have decision-making energy over the place their kids attend faculty. The ladies additionally agreed board critiques for constitution faculty renewals and funding needs to be evaluated with the identical requirements as conventional public colleges.
On the difficulty of what needs to be prioritized, Berta stated her focus is equity-based and consists of organizing on the group degree to handle points just like the digital divide. Within the Silicon Valley, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed disparities in what number of college students struggled to entry digital assets like WiFi and gadgets for on-line studying.
“We’ve the potential to proceed to heart ourselves round problems with fairness which are really impacting our kids, our college students, and our group, nevertheless it does take that cross collaboration,” Berta stated.
Separating politics from schooling consists of partnerships between colleges and underserved communities like East San Jose, Carrasco stated.
“A district that has been underserved, not for many years however for generations–it has led to poverty, it has led to under-resourced households who’re determined to get out of the cycle. We’ve to do higher,” Carrasco stated.
Prcevski stated policymaking requires revolutionary concepts and making certain households’ voices are heard.
“It is vital that the board on the county degree is balanced and it is made up of oldsters that come from numerous backgrounds, that come from numerous professions and embody dad and mom of scholars which are within the system at this time,” Prcevski stated.
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Copyright © 2022 by Bay Metropolis Information, Inc. Republication, Rebroadcast or another Reuse with out the specific written consent of Bay Metropolis Information, Inc. is prohibited.
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