League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA November 4, 2014 Election
	Sanjay Dave Answers Questions Candidate for Board Member; Mountain View-Los Altos Union High 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?

I would examine the previous year's budget and based on the metrics we have devised, check if the appropriate gains are being made. If certain gains are lower than expected, such as performance of our low-income, at-risk, or college-bound students, I would look to see if adjustments to the budget is needed to reach the goals we had set at the beginning of the year.

Moreover, I would ensure that our budget is forward looking to ensure we have adequate funding for the new programs, curriculum, and infrastructure we are looking to add to our district, including a safety-net so we remain solvent in troubled times.

To achieve this, I would make sure that our budget has proper oversight by our outside auditors, the Santa Clara County Office of Education, and Citizen Advisory Committee.

Our district website will contain an easy to find link to the current budget, decision process, and archive of previous budgets. In addition, we will notify parents which board meeting our budget will be reviewed and approved so they can attend and provide input.

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

One can never be complacent but always strive to improve our educational abilities of all our students.

I will always be looking for ways to improve our methods of instruction, programs and curriculum for our students to provide a deeper and a more well-rounded education.

As an example, I think technology will continue to play a more important role in our education but we need to use acute judgment in how we use it. Stanford recently completed a study where they took a group of 9th graders who had behavioral problems or had failed 9th grade English before and put them in a class where teachers used technology to practice their English skills. At the end of the year, these kids outperformed the 9th grade AP students in the state exam. This exemplifies that technology can be used as a tool to offer differentiated instruction but it must be the right technology and used effectively.

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

5 years from now I would expect the following

• Common Core will have taken hold
• Interactive technology is utilized more to allow for differentiated teaching and learning
• Achievement gap continues to reduce at a steady decline
• API scores consistently above 900 (or common core equivalent testing) shoving improvements every year
• Expansion of our curriculum to offer relevant courses in vocational training and computer applications

To achieve these results the board must stay engaged with the staff, teachers and community such that we remain focused on our goals. We must take risks... We must grow... We must challenge ourselves

We must be open to looking outside of our own district to see what other successful districts have incorporated into their schools.

In addition, we must maintain a strong financial foundation through practicing fiscal discipline.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. The answer to each question should be limited to 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: October 8, 2014 21:33
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