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LWV League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA November 4, 2014 Election
Smart Voter

Christine Ellen Koltermann, Ph.D.
Answers Questions

Candidate for
Trustee; Santa Clara Unified School District; Trustee Area 2

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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?

Taxpayers have the right to know about SCUSD funding sources and how our school district spends its resources. School funding comes from a variety of federal, state, and local government sources, and school districts are responsible for following all applicable federal and state laws as well as local school board policies regarding how those funds are spent. SCUSD budgets show both sources of revenue and expenditures. Typically, school districts spend about 85% of their general fund dollars on employee salary and benefits each year, with 15% spent on items such as books/supplies/busing/utilities.

Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) is a 'Basic Aid' district, which means that our local property taxes are SCUSD's major source of revenue. In fact, our schools receive a larger proportion of our property tax dollars than any other government agency, with 38% of every property tax dollar going to SCUSD. SCUSD also has a parcel tax, Measure A (2012), which provides additional property tax dollars to the district.

Title 1 is the largest federal source of funds for elementary and secondary education; Title 1 funds are provided specifically to help disadvantaged children. Title III funds are targeted funds spent on English Language Learners. Federal law also governs spending on special education programs through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); these funds are distributed to school districts through state grants.

On a quarterly basis, the Assistant Superintendent of Business gives a presentation on the budget to the Board, staff, and community at an open school board meeting. Each year in mid-June, there's a public hearing on the proposed budget for the upcoming school year. By state law, all school districts must make public and submit to the County Office of Education estimated budgets for the upcoming three years. Members of the public are always welcome to comment on the budget at SCUSD board meetings.

Here are the many ways in which SCUSD reports on how federal, state, and local funds are spent:

SCUSD's website also contains information about bond projects, a source of local funds used solely for capital improvement projects. SCUSD voters passed bonds in 1997, 2004, and 2010. Each bond has a citizen's oversight committee which reports to the Board of Education, staff, and the public at board meetings. The district is currently seeking district residents to serve on our bond oversight committees: http://www.santaclarausd.org/bondprojects.cfm

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

While efforts are being made to offer instruction that addresses the diverse educational abilities of our students, we can do better. The Board of Education recently directed staff to come up with a plan to implement a default curriculum to meet the requirements for college acceptance; currently many of our students graduate missing the college requirements by only one or two classes. Our high school principals strongly support moving to a default college ready curriculum (known as A-G.)

SCUSD also offers substantial career/technical education for students who choose a non-college pathway. We partner with Metro-Ed to provide career/technical education classes to our high school students.

SCUSD also offers the opportunity for students to take courses at Mission College during their high school years. During my time on the Board of Education, the district has increased the number of AP course offerings and the number of computer science classes at our high schools. We also partnered with a non-profit and corporate partners to bring in the STEM Leadership Academy at one of our middle schools.

While SCUSD has seen growth in API scores at many schools, too many students remain below proficient in English/Language Arts and Mathematics. The data show that proficiencies peak in 4th grade in our district and then start a long, slow, slide downward all the way to the end of high school. Many children start middle school and high school without being proficient in the basics. Children who leave elementary school not proficient in reading, writing, and mathematics tend to not become proficient in the later grades.

As our excellent administrative staff is working to overhaul our curriculum to meet Common Core State Standards, the Board of Education has been told by our administrative team that SCUSD needs a stronger core curriculum which meets the needs of 80% of our students; another 10% of our students who are struggling need a multi-tiered system of interventions, and another 10% need special education services. We need earlier intervention for students who are struggling. Currently, SCUSD has 50% more students in special education than the state or county average. A state intervention team evaluated SCUSD in late 2012, and the Board of Education was told at a public meeting that SCUSD has too many students in special education because we're putting poor readers into special ed instead of giving them a stronger core curriculum and appropriate interventions. Our administrative team is currently piloting a multi-tiered system of intervention strategies.

We have an achievement gap in our district at many of our schools, with many of our Title 1 schools obtaining lower API scores than our non-Title 1 schools. Following trends observed nationwide, the achievement gap shows up in standardized testing as early as 2nd/3rd grade and persists through high school. There are instructional techniques which have been proven to help close the achievement gap, such as direct instruction, frequent readiness assessments coupled with readiness groupings. One of our district Title 1 elementary schools, Bracher, has closed the achievement gap using quarterly assessments (NWEA MAPS assessment tools) coupled with readiness groupings in English/Language Arts and Mathematics, direct instruction, and teacher collaboration. As students learn the readiness groupings are re-evaluated. The curriculum used is the same throughout the district, but the learning results differ because of the implementation of different instructional methods. Starting September 2010, more of our Title 1 schools are using the NWEA MAPS assessment tools. I believe in exploring best practices in all of our schools. We owe it to our students and families to use the best available teaching practices throughout the district. In addition, our district has 2 alternative elementary schools with substantial waiting lists. One school is our back to basics school, and the other is our parent participation school. The waiting lists show the popularity of these schools with district parents; SCUSD needs to expand its alternative offerings to satisfy the demand for alternative education within our district. Finally, the number of SCUSD students who are transferred to charter schools also shows that our district parents are seeking alternative forms of education for their children. Our district has a responsibility to provide for the diverse educational needs of our families. Many district families are asking for more educational choices at the middle school and high school level. We are in the heart of Silicon Valley, and many families are asking for more focus on math, technology, and science in our schools. In addition to meeting the needs of students who are not yet proficient in English/Language Arts and Mathematics, we need to provide a challenging educational environment for our students who are proficient or advanced in their studies. The Board of Education has asked our administrative team to bring a plan to the Board which will meet the needs of our high performing students who need greater challenges (i.e. bring back a GATE program into the district.)

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

The SCUSD Board of Education engaged a strategic planner to help us develop a new long-range plan for our school district. Because of my background in school finance, I serve on the Fiscal Sustainability Committee for the SCUSD Strategic Plan, called 'Rising Above in Silicon Valley.' The goal is to revise the district's mission, vision, and goals as well as to plan for our increasing enrollment, improvements in student achievement, maximizing the potential of every student, reducing class sizes, and restoring programs cut during the severe budget crisis.

Our district is growing rapidly, with 1,500 students entering our district within the last eight years, and another 2,000 students expected within the next seven to ten years (according to the district's demographer.) Santa Clara Unified is growing due to the amount of new housing being added to the cities in our district (Santa Clara, and parts of Sunnyvale and northern San Jose). Unless we take appropriate steps, our high schools are projected to increase to 3000 students each. Some of our campuses already have portables to deal with overcrowding. Our district will be re-opening some of its schools that have been leased out, but more space will be needed in the future, particularly at the middle and high school levels.

SCUSD residents passed the Measure H bond in 2010; it took almost four years of negotiations between the SCUSD Board, staff, our attorneys, and the state of CA to acquire the Agnews property, with the City of San Jose partnering with us in the purchase of the land to create a park adjacent to our schools. This land will be used eventually for a new high school and a new K-8. Increasing the quality of our schools raises our property values and therefore increases the property taxes upon which our school district is primarily funded. We currently have a bond on the Nov. 2014 ballot, also called Measure H, which is to build new schools, reclaim and refurbish leased property, and fix worn out plumbing, roofing, etc.

I want to see Santa Clara Unified partner with our cities, private businesses, and non-profit agencies to create more opportunities for students like our STEM Leadership Academy, and more opportunities for mutually beneficial joint use agreements. I have attended excellent conferences on closing the achievement gap and creating partnerships at the Santa Clara County Office of Education for SJ2020, a model group of San Jose schools partnered with the City of San Jose, private businesses and non-profit agencies.

As school board president, I understand the need to collaborate with my fellow trustees, district staff, parents, and the community to improve the quality of education offered in our schools. As a science teacher, I understand the support teachers need for professional development and Common Core training to implement the new state standards for curriculum and assessment. As a small business owner, I understand the need for the business community to have a well-educated workforce. As a scientist, I understand the need to strengthen the math, science, and technology teaching in our schools. As a parent who devoted more than 2000 hours to volunteering in SCUSD schools, I understand the dedicated parental involvement that helps make our schools strong and the desire of parents to have the district provide educational options for families. As a property owner within SCUSD, I understand how strongly the quality of our schools affects our property values.

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: November 3, 2014 19:38
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