League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA November 6, 2012 Election
	Bill Lambert Answers Questions Candidate for Board Member; Mountain View-Whisman School District

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?

It is very important that the Mountain View community be informed of activities within the school district, including how the district uses federal, state and local funding. The bottom line must be how well we are preparing our children for the high schools and their future. Funding for public education in California is clearly going through a transition, and in view of the significant uncertainties, being fiscally conservative is the wisest course. Our funds should be focused on education of our children, but that said, there are many aspects involved such as attracting and retaining excellent educators and having appropriate facilities.

There are many ways to inform our community about our schools and I would like to see the MVWSD be more proactive about engaging the community. Personally, I have attended far too many meetings involving MWSD matters where I have been the only community member in attendance. Certainly the district currently uses the local media and maintains a website as a vehicle to communicate with the community. Mountain View has a strong network of neighborhood associations that can be use to disseminate information. I would also like to see the district organize regular neighborhood meetings that bring together residents with and without children in the public schools to address questions relevant to the local communities. Educating our children is perhaps the most important issue for us in Mountain View. The disctrict has a significant role to play in stimulating communition participation.

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

We have made great progress in reducing the achievement gap during the past 10 years that I have been a Mountain View resident. However, I believe the MVWSD and the Mountaiv View community can do much more. Because many of the K-8 schools in Mountain View have a majority population of ESL students, I believe that we should be focusing our efforts on this population of students, which in turn will enhance K-8 education to all students within our school district.

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

I would like to see our school disctrict be a model of innovative K-8 learning and in particular for addressing the needs of the ESL students. I believe that one step toward accomplishing this is to open the schools to after-school programs to not only augument the academic learning, but also offer enrichment programs, individualized learning, sports activities, and a place for parents to get together. Programs such as this can be staffed by volunteers from the community with the support of the school district. Mountain View is a community with tremendous resources with residents having a great range of talents and willingness to share. Offering after-school opportunities will help to provide a way to leverage our resources and serve to increase community involvement. Within the next 5 years I would like to see more of the children from our ESL community be prepared to enter the college preparatory math and science programs offered at our high schools. In the long term, I would work to see that the next generation of engineers and scientists comes from the inspiration realized from our K-8 education.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. Please answer each question in no more than 400 words. Direct references to opponents are not permitted.

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

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: September 29, 2012 12:37
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