League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA November 7, 2006 Election
	Noelani Sallings Answers Questions Candidate for Trustee; Santa Clara Unified School District; Trustee Area 2

The questions were prepared by the Leagues of Women Voters of Santa Clara County and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. How would you determine that the schools are using federal, state and local funds wisely and fairly and how would you report your findings to the community?

Currently all funding is public record. I would ask to sit down with principals, look at the budgets, visit and sit in on School site counsel meetings to see how the money is allocated. I would also look at the "SPSA" School plans to see how fund are allocated and how they match the goals of the school and the district. From there I would make the budget report card public just like we make the school scoring report card public.

2. Are the schools offering instruction appropriate to the diverse educational abilities of all the students?

In our district, currently, all schools and staff differentiate instruction to meet diverse needs of the student population. As with anything we could improve in this area. We can do so by putting more time into staff development. Along with this smaller class sizes and more classified staff would give the teachers the ability to give more attention to all levels in the class.

3. Where do you want the District to be five years from now? What steps should the District take to get there?

Five years from now I would like to see the district better meet the needs of all students at all ability levels. I want to see all students reach proficiency levels. I think eliminating the achievement gaps separating ethnic groups would bring our community closer together and make it stronger. Finally I would like to bring back all successful programs previously cut and continue to implement other programs shown to be success. Thus preparing students of all ages and abilities for the ever changing world.

In order to do this we must have clear set goals and work hard to meet them. We must continue to hold school accountable and come up with new and creative ways to overcome road blocks we face.

---

Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' responses are not edited or corrected by the League.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Candidate Page || Feedback to Candidate || This Contest
SmartVoter Home (Ballot Lookup) || About Smart Voter

---

Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 9, 2006 07:41
Smart Voter <http://www.smartvoter.org/>
Copyright © League of Women Voters of California Education Fund   http://www.lwvc.org
The League of Women Voters neither supports nor opposes candidates for public office or political parties.