Policy Watch: Your weekly tip sheet for what’s going in local government.

Santa Clara County Board of Education

 Decision on the Charter Petition for Morgan Hill Prep (Navigator)

Staff on Friday released their review of the charter petition from Morgan Hill Prep – A Navigator School. The petition was denied by the Morgan Hill Unified School District in October of last year, prompting the charter operator to submit a petition to the County Board of Education. At the public hearing in November the meeting space at the office of education was crowded with both supporters and opponents of the charter petition.  Many of the community members making the trek north from Morgan Hill to stay for both the Navigator and Rocketship hearings.

Rocketship later pulled their charter petition appeal. The recommendation released by staff is to deny Navigator’s charter petition, based on the findings that the Petitioners are demonstrably unlikely to successfully implement the program presented in the Petition, and that the Petition fails to provide a reasonably comprehensive description of all required elements.

Could this be the tide turning against charters school in Santa Clara County? One factor that’s hindering some charter school operators is their own history; charter schools don’t always have the dramatic increases in student achievement that are promised when seeking a petition. That’s made governing bodies more critical when reviewing future charter applications. Another factor is the realization among the broader education community that the charter schools aren’t the silver bullet; that poverty plays a large role in student achievement.

 When:            Wednesday, January 15

Where:          Santa Clara County Board of Education

Agenda:         http://www.sccoe.org/countyboard/Documents/2013-14/011514/01-15-14agenda.htm

 

Cupertino Union School District Board of Trustees

 May 6th election to renew parcel tax

The Cupertino Union School District Board of Trustees will review a resolution calling for a May 6 election to renew and consolidate the District’s parcel taxes. In addition, the District will hold a public hearing (January 23) on the proposal. The combined level of $250 per parcel per annum rounds around to approximately $8.8 million a year which goes to fund a variety of educational programs.

Cupertino schools are some of the best achieving schools in a wealthier part of Silicon Valley, which is why a $250 parcel tax is feasibly and likely to renewed. The only concern is the timing of the election: conventional wisdom holds that special elections held out of sync with statewide elections have low turnout. That’s bad from a ‘good government’ perspective, where you want to have high turnout to validate the results. It’s also bad from a campaign perspect; lower turnout elections are less favorable to tax measures, even if those measures go to funding high quality education. Let’s hope there’s some internal polling that says this is winnable.

 When:            Wednesday, January 14

Where:          Cupertino Union School District Board of Trustees

Agenda:          http://www.cusdk8.org/edline/about/board/agendas/1314/Board%20Agenda%20-%20Public%2011414.pdf

 

 City of San Jose

 2014-2015 Budget Prioritization Session

The 2014-2015 Priority Setting Session for 2014-2015 Budget in San Jose is coming up this Saturday, including an overview from the New City Manager Ed Shikada and the Budget Prioritization Exercise.

Wonks, activists and community stakeholders: mark your calendars. This is your chance to get a sneak peak at 2014’s budget. So much for your three-day weekend. 

 When:                        Saturday, January 18

Where:          San Jose City Hall (Rotunda)

Agenda:         http://sanjoseca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/25589

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