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For the previous decade, constitution faculties have been the lightning-rod problem for candidates in search of to serve on the Santa Clara County Board of Schooling. However the pandemic heightens the necessity for voters to elect candidates who not solely can consider charters on their deserves but additionally assist the county Workplace of Schooling and native college districts enhance early-childhood teaching programs which might be essential to closing the student-achievement hole.
It’s vital work. The county Workplace of Schooling runs the county’s particular teaching programs, various faculties, Head Begin, state-funded preschool packages and packages for troubled youth. The Workplace of Schooling additionally screens the educational and financial efficiency of the county’s 31 college districts and 21 licensed constitution faculties.
In Trustee Space 2, Tara Sreekrishnan is working unopposed for the seat to which she was appointed in 2021. We advocate termed-out San Jose Metropolis Councilwoman Magdalena Carrasco in Trustee Space 6 and political newcomer Raeena Lari in Trustee Space 7.
Trustee Space 6
Carrasco’s political expertise stands head and shoulders above her opponent and could be invaluable for Space 6, the East Facet space that encompasses the Alum Rock, Mt. Nice and Franklin-McKinley districts. Space 6 was disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, exacerbating the achievement-gap points that already plagued its faculties.
Carrasco is a long-time supporter of constitution faculties. Previous to serving on the San Jose Metropolis Council, she was an East Facet Union Excessive College Board trustee, the place she developed a well-deserved repute for being listener and having the ability to see the massive image on points.
Early-education packages are her ardour. She was an early screening and intervention specialist for the Gardner Household Well being Community from 2010-12, served as an early childhood improvement program employee for First 5 from 2008-10, and helped households with kids beneath the age of 5 achieve entry to medical insurance choices for the Santa Clara Household Well being program from 2007-2008.
Carrasco’s opponent, Maimona Afzal Berta, can also be well-qualified to function a trustee, however her robust ties to labor elevate questions on her means to face as much as teacher-union strain on constitution college evaluations. Berta is wise, articulate and demonstrates a powerful dedication to schooling points. She has been a trustee on the Franklin-McKinley College District board since 2018 and has labored as a particular schooling instructor within the Alum Rock Union College District for 9 years. However her work as a instructor delegate for the South Bay Labor Council for the final 4 years raises considerations a few lack of independence.
Trustee Space 7
Claudia Rossi’s choice to run for Santa Clara County supervisor left a gap in Space 7, which encompasses the Morgan Hill and Gilroy college districts.
Lari, working for workplace for the primary time, desires to make use of her background as a researcher and economist to convey larger effectivity and transparency to how the county Workplace of Schooling spends public funds. She was a analysis economist for Pakistan’s Nationwide Growth Finance Corp. and a analysis assistant for The World Financial institution. Lari has important expertise as a volunteer, serving on the Santa Clara County Well being Advisory Fee for the previous three years and as a board member of the Bay Space League of Ladies Voters and Our Metropolis Forest. She pledged to guage charters on their deserves.
Her opponent, Natalie Prcevski, has a tech background and works for Cyxtera Applied sciences. A supporter of Donald Trump within the 2020 election, she has been a Constitution College of Morgan Hill board member for 4 years.