Feb 13, 2017
Santa Clara County Report on ordinance to prevent discrimination against renters with Section 8 vouchers At the February 7, 2017 Board of Supervisors meeting, the County Counsel presented a recommended ordinance to ensure that all persons with the ability to pay for housing, whether through their own funds or using a subsidy such as Section 8, are considered for housing.…
Dec 14, 2015
Santa Clara County: Consider policy revisions to Equal Opportunity/Nondiscrimination provision in County contracts; County to pursue more robust pay equity assessment After a preliminary review on the County’s demographic data examining classified and certain unclassified County positions under the County pay ordinance and the Executive Management Pay Ordinance, the data showed the following: Female employees comprise 70% or more of…
Dec 7, 2015
Santa Clara County Initial data on gender/race pay equity & direction on pay equity in County contracting policies Commission on the Status of Women’s (CSW) Pay Equity Study: In advance of the forthcoming pay equity study that will be undertaken by the Office of Women’s Policy and the Commission on the Status of Women, County Counsel and Administration have conducted…
Mar 25, 2015
Last night it was announced that Rocketship Education would not being using any of the 20 charters the Santa Clara County Office of Education authorized in December 2011 in the Franklin-McKinley school district. A statement read at the school board meeting explained that the Franklin-McKinley Union School District and Rocketship Education had reached a settlement on lawsuit filed in February,…
Nov 14, 2014
The polls are closed, ballots cast, and votes tabulated, and I am proud to say California Public Education won two major victories on Election Day both statewide and locally. At the state level, Tom Torlakson was successful in his reelection bid as State Superintendent of Public Instruction. On a personal note, the portion of Tom’s message that resonated most with me was, “Every…
Oct 22, 2014
On June 18, the Santa Clara County Board of Education voted unanimously to overturn the decision of the Alum Rock School Board and approve Rocketship #9. I’m sure the individuals and corporations behind the movement to privatize public education will rejoice in this misguided decision. Under the guise of parental choice, county trustees have further endorsed and supported what amounts…
Oct 7, 2014
Nearly every metropolitan area these days has its own wealthy promoters of education reform. Little Rock has the Waltons, Seattle has Bill and Melinda Gates, Newark has Mark Zuckerberg, and Buffalo has John Oishei, who made his millions selling windshield wipers. Few areas, however, have as concentrated and active a group of wealthy reformers as California’s Silicon Valley. One of…