- Occupation: Governing Board Member, Berryessa Union School District
- Education: PhD UC Berkeley, BS Cornell University
- President, Board of Trustees, 2008-2010
- Engineering Manager at Novellus Systems
- San Jose Library Commission, Chair, 2004-2006
- Norcal Section American Institute of Chemical Engineers Executive Board
- Benefit Assessment Oversight Committee
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Top Priorities if Elected |
- Provide balanced educational services, retaining art, music, and library programs
- Retain high quality teachers by compensating them well and providing them with training and support
- Make sure children have strong counseling programs available to them
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The Leagues of Women Voters of Santa Clara County asked questions on the issues of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from David Cohen
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- Mayor Chuck Reed
- San Jose City Councilman Kansen Chu
- Many district parents, teachers, and principals
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- Keeping Class Sizes Small
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Due to the California budget crisis, school districts all over the state have increased class sizes, particularly at kindergarten to third grade. Most have gone from 20 students in a class to 30 students in a class at those levels. Due to our fiscal responsibility and the Board's priorities, we have kept class sizes small by only increasing from 20 to 24 students per class.
- Balanced Programs for a High Performing District
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While our district continues to excel academically, we have been forced to cut 20% of our budget. Since 90% of our budget goes to employee salaries and benefits, some programmatic changes were necessary. My goal has been to balance those changes so that our district still offers a balanced education for our children.
- Fixing No Child Left Behind
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NCLB sets a target of 100$ proficiency by 2014. While schools should set challenging goals, such unrealistic growth targets are beginning to unfairly stigmatize exemplary schools, including several in Berryessa. This article is reprinted from my Board President's Blog.
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![[photo]](cohen_dd.jpg)
