Dec 15, 2015
In November of this year, a poll conducted by EdSource and the Learning Policy Institute revealed that 64 percent of California voters surveyed regard the shortage of k-12 teachers as a “very serious” problem. A similar proportion feels that more should be done at the state level to encourage young people to pursue a career as educational instructors. The statewide poll, which…
Dec 14, 2015
In this week’s edition of How the Morgan Hill Unified School Board Turns, a 3 – 3 divided board will attempt to select a new board president and vice president. It is also the first regular board meeting since The Morgan Hill Times released a series of sexist, vulgar e-mails sent by Trustee David Gerard, so we can expect that parents, teachers,…
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 9, 2015
The candidate pool for the vacant Santa Clara Valley Water District 1 seat, has been narrowed from 21 to five. The Board is set to make the appointment tomorrow afternoon. The final five candidates, all of which received at least three votes during the candidate screening process earlier this week, are: Morgan Hill Council Member Rich Constantine, President of the…
Dec 8, 2015
There are many words that can be used to describe the Morgan Hill Unified School District Board of Education (Board), but “unified” is actually not one of them. The now six member board has consistently split 3 – 3, making virtually no headway on issues important to the education of our children. The citizens of Morgan Hill hope that the…
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…
Dec 3, 2015
The Morgan Hill Unified School District finds itself in yet another controversy, this time as a result of the extraordinarily insulting and inappropriate emails sent by Trustee David Gerard from his official email address. Gerard denigrated several of his fellow board members and the District Superintendent, but saved his most venomous slurs for then-Trustee Amy Porter Jensen, commenting on her…
Dec 3, 2015
The Santa Clara Valley Water District 1 seat, vacated by Dennis Kennedy due to his battle with cancer, has drawn a significant number of interested applicants, 21 to be exact. Rich Constantine continues to be the most viable candidate, currently serving as a Morgan Hill Council Member. Another familiar name is Jeff Cristina, the Mayor of Campbell. If appointed, Cristina…
Dec 2, 2015
By a vote of 5 – 2 last night, the Sunnyvale City Council chose to join Mountain View in setting the new regional minimum wage standard for the Bay Area – a minimum of $15 per hour by 2018 for all workers. “I’m a free market guy, the government should only step in when the free market is failing… its…
Nov 30, 2015
City of San Jose Priority Setting Session Dec. 8; potential priorities include gender pay equity, downtown storefront activation, 1% development fee for art, more Council to approve new items for the Council Priority List to create an updated, rank-ordered list. The process for establishing Council Priorities at the Dec. 8th meeting are as follows: Nominated Ideas Voting – Council will…