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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.
See below for questions on
State and Federal Funds,
Instruction,
Future
Click on a name for candidate information. See also more information about this contest.
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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?
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Answer from Vance Vuong:
I have confidence in the judgments of our District's competent Superintendent, accountants and controller. The District's current financial state is well documented and the distribution of funds is well planned. Various reports are also regularly presented at School Board meetings, which is televised live on Milpitas community channel. If elected, I would work closely with Board members, administrators and principals to evaluate each school's needs and programs. Of course, my findings would be reported at School Board meetings.
Answer from Daniel Robert "Dan" Bobay:
The Milpitas Unified school district has a very capable and thorough staff. The accounting office pays particular attention to establishing budgets and periodically auditing performance against those budgets.These activities are normally conducted under the authority of the District Superintendent of schools. The accounting office always participates in the school board meetings, which are televised live across the city.
Answer from Gwan Alisantosa:
1. Review the budgets in detail to ensure that all designated funds and expenditures are in compliance.
2. Once the funds are spent, review the expenditures against the allocated funds.
The proper way to report findings to the community is to publish it and put it on the agenda of board meeting.
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2. Are the schools offering instruction appropriate to the diverse educational abilities of all the students?
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Answer from Daniel Robert "Dan" Bobay:
If they did I doubt we would have programs such as No Child Left Behind or need a staff of analysts that study the results of the annual testing as much as they currently do here in Milpitas. But if the question is about the schools in Milpitas paying attention to the students and working hard to adjust the educational program to reach those students that need help the most and take those kids that need help and tailor a program for them, the answer is YES.
Answer from Vance Vuong:
Regardless of students' abilities, I think there must be a minimum standard that all students are required to meet so that they can be prepared for life after high school whether it is college, or vocational training, or work. The proficient students need more challenging projects. The average students need more encouragement. The below-average students need to be further empowered; they need more counseling and active tutoring.
Answer from Gwan Alisantosa:
Yes, our schools are offering appropriate to the diverse educational abilities of all students.
However, there are other factors affecting students' ability to reach their maximum potentials, for example, the student's home environment, lack of parents involvements in helping students do homeworks, etc.
If I am elected, I would look into finding new innovative ideas of how we all can work together to close the achievement gap.
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3. Where do you want the District to be five years from now? What steps should the District take to get there?
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Answer from Gwan Alisantosa:
Five years from now, I would like to see our school district close the achievement gap the best we can, and improve all students achievements.
As of this writing, more homes are being built in Milpitas, and more are planned to be built in the future.
As more people move into those new homes, we must meet the need for more classrooms to accommodate their children.
In order to get there, our school district needs to retain and hire excellent teachers, better use of computer and technology, and provide proper schools infrastructure to help us reach our goals, and to encourage more community involvements.
In 2002 I wrote a paper called Milpitas Circle of Education, where teachers, parents, school administration and the community work together to promote better education for all students.
It is obvious with the new developments, now the school district and the city will need to work together to address the additional need for more capacity at our schools.
Answer from Vance Vuong:
I often think about our children's academic achievement which is a result of the quality of classrooms, instructions, assignments, tests, and policies. Here are my practical plans for boosting our children's competitiveness.
The most advanced High school juniors and seniors need opportunities to excel. I propose a Science Field Study program. For two weeks per school year, with their teachers' and parents' approvals, they would intern at local hi-tech companies to gain excitedly applied knowledge and exposures.
The English learners must be further empowered. Their inadequate English have hindered their performances and schools' rankings. I propose mandatory after-school English classes whereby able High school juniors and seniors would tutor them + extra credits for tutors, big savings for the District, and improved test scores for younger students.
Another High school and Elementary school might be needed to ease congestion. The lower teacher-to-students ratio sustains the quality of classroom instructions. The building costs would be mitigated by fairer shares of funding from the Redevelopment Agency and higher builder's fees. We, the parents, also need to partially invest in our children's education and community.
Furthermore, enthusiastic and resourceful teachers indeed influence deeply our students' intellectual curiosities. And at home, we, the parents, must redouble our participation in our children's educational efforts.
Milpitas students certainly deserve it.
Answer from Daniel Robert "Dan" Bobay:
The district has a challenge ahead of itself in continuing to achieve high marks in the state testing. In the next 5 years, we will be expected to be at a 95% level or some ridiculous number like that. We also have the challenge of 18,000 new homes built in an area that was never intended for residential housing or schools. We need to team with the city to get our first urban style school built. We also need to work with the city to solve the nagging problems of traffic at the high school, bus routes and ride sharing opportunities. The first step in this process is to develop support in the city council. We also have budget issues to face if the state Legislators cannot come to terms with the Governor. We will be impacted at the local level if the state cannot reconcile the budget. The District should ask our parents to urge our local representatives and legislators to establish a budget that supports the schools.
Responses to questions asked of each candidate
are reproduced as submitted to the League.
Candidates' responses are not edited or
corrected by the League.
The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.
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League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
