League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA November 3, 2009 Election
	Anjali Kausar Answers Questions Candidate for Board Member; Cupertino Union School District

The questions were prepared by the the League of Women Voters of Cupertino/Sunnyvale 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?

One of the primary roles of the Board of Education is to approve a balanced budget each year. The board reviews each fiscal year's budget throughout the year. In addition, a rolling three year budget forecast is made to evaluate the long term impacts of yearly decisions. Independent external financial audits are conducted yearly and I am proud that the independent audits have had no negative findings and have suggested no alterations to our yearly budgets. Through proactive financial planning, we have been able to responsibly manage our resources without implementing layoffs or devastating instrumental programs for this year. The state budget crisis continues to worsen and we will have a significant impact on our budget for the 2010-11 school year. The Superintendent and staff are making ongoing efforts to communicate with the entire Cupertino Union School District community; thorough budget update presentations to insure clear understanding of the state and district financial position. My experience as a healthcare executive helps me understand these issues in depth and vote for the best option for our students.

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

We are a high achieving school district. I am proud that all of our schools achieve over 800 and that 20 achieve over 900 on the API. Neighborhood schools are the backbone of our community and within each school, the staff offers differentiated instruction and enrichment programs to meet the individual needs of students. Enrichment opportunities in art, music, PE, garden, and character building are found at all our schools. Specific resource and special education programs are offered to support those with an array of learning abilities and styles. Cupertino Union School District also has four alternative elementary programs, Faria - a back to basics program, Murdock-Portal - a year round technology school, McAuliffe - a school that focuses on a whole child curriculum, and CLIP - a language immersion program. Our middle schools offer broad based curriculum to meet the needs of our diverse student population. An array of electives ranging from shop classes to math electives as well as differentiate core classes are designed to help the students at each school achieve their potential. I am very proud of the curriculum we offer our students.

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 have 21st century learning incorporated into our classrooms by integrating technology with everyday learning which will enhance our students skills and enthusiasm to be tomorrow's leaders. I will work towards it by keeping the district's focus on our students and prioritize programs to maintain the outstanding academic achievement of all of our students.

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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).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 12, 2009 17:03
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