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Santa Clara County, CA November 2, 2010 Election
Smart Voter

Platform of Angie Cardoza

By Angie M. Cardoza

Candidate for Member; Santa Clara County Board of Education; Trustee Area 6

This information is provided by the candidate
The following details the major issues that I will focus on if elected to the Board of the County Office of Education.
We have a current problem with the achievement gap in Santa Clara County. In San Jose, 50% of our high school students are not meeting grade level requirements. This problem starts in preschool, and we are not serving our students by developing and preparing them for success in these critical early stages. I believe that collectively our business community, the Santa Clara County Office of Education, as well as our City, schools districts, charter schools, nonprofit agencies, and colleges can work together to eliminate the achievement gap. It is through cooperation and collaboration that we can and must work diligently to remove the racial opportunity gap that exists for our children of color. We must act with a sense of urgency in order to remove this barrier and make parent's expectations of a quality education and children's dreams of a successful future a reality.

Right now the COE has developed a 2020 plan and goals to eliminate this problem. I have reviewed and fully support the plan. As a board member, this is one of the issues that I feel will require a lot of focus and commitment. With the help of COE staff I will work to establish incremental steps to meet these goals, with annual reviews and measurable results to keep the public informed.

2. Although we have a lot of children going to college today, we should strive for more. Our current high school drop out rate is 50% in San Jose. We are in the heart of Silicon Valley, and we should see more of our students succeeding in higher education, which is their ticket to success here and in the broader global community. There are some bright spots in this County. As an example, we have Downtown College Prep (DCP).

  • DCP maintains contact with 83% of its alumni; 74% have graduated from a four-year university or are on track to earn a college degree.
  • 100% of DCP graduates complete the California A-G requirements for admission to the UC or CSU systems.
  • 95% are Latino
  • 42% are English Language Learners
  • 86% qualify for free or reduced lunch
  • 82% of 9th graders read below the 7th grade level
  • 52% of 9th graders have math scores below the 7th grade level We need to highlight these successes and learn from them. We need to replicate and build upon these successes as much as possible.

3. Given today's environment we need look at how we are spending our money. Are we really putting the money where it should be? When I was on the Grand Jury, concerns raised often led our investigations to uncover cases of questionable, excessive, and redundant spending within the County. I would bring the same thorough analysis to the COE board and expertise on how to scrutinize spending practices and improve services. In my time on the grand jury, we also found many districts were waiting for assistance from the County Office of Education. For example, schools were not able to meet code requirements and were waiting on the County Office of Educations to establish and implement an inventory tracking system. Another issue that was brought to our attention was that some districts felt that the services from the County Office of Education are too costly for them. I will ensure that we will maintain focus on what is beneficial and cost effective for all districts.

My approach will be to have discussions with all the superintendents to understand the needs of their individual districts so that I will be better able to offer assistance and identify common problems and needs across the County.

This is what makes me different: I am not a politician. I am not here to seek higher office. My goal is to support a successful educational experience for our children in Santa Clara County. I have raised two children, and understand the challenges from the inside (as a parent) and outside (as an investigator on the Civil Grand Jury and as a long term small business owner/operator). My goals are to work with teachers, administrators and other staff at the district and county level as well as the business community to make the Santa Clara County Office of Education a model for the state.

Angie4COE.info

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ca/scl Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 6, 2010 16:52
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