The questions were prepared by the the League of Women Voters of Cupertino-Sunnyvale and asked of all candidates for this office.

See below for questions on Funding

Click on a name for other candidate information.   See also more information about this contest.

Answer from Pearl Cheng:

CUSD is the third largest district in Santa Clara County and operates with a budget of $106M. The last four years have seen decreasing funds for education statewide. By implementing tight financial controls, CUSD has successfully avoided teacher/staff layoffs, school closures, and program cuts - measures our neighboring school districts have had to painfully implement.

Our achievement levels in CUSD during this time have still been some of the highest countywide and statewide. That comes through hard work and diligence from many in CUSD. In dealing with the budget issues within CUSD, we have been successful in eliminating managerial positions (in the past four years eliminated five mgmt. positions resulting in $1.4 M in ongoing savings), driving cost savings in departments ($640K per year since '02), obtaining $1.5 M in grants, deferring large expenditures, and obtaining matching state funds. With hard work we have protected 86% of the total CUSD budget for staff compensation.

CUSD's financials are audited annually and we have had excellent reports without negative findings the last four years. We also review CUSD's budget frequently throughout the year, as we look at expenditures versus plans, and review areas for cost savings and cost growth areas such as energy costs, transportation, Special Education, etc. CUSD has a Health and Welfare Committee that oversees health care costs and implements ideas for cost savings in this area. The CUSD budget is also reviewed by a Budget Advisory Committee comprised of district staff, parents and community members and they meet regularly throughout the year. I will continue the above mentioned cost saving measures and review processes and will seek other ideas from staff to carefully manage finances and ensure the best education for our students in CUSD.

At the state level, I have been actively working to protect Proposition 98 funding for education by forming the Education Coalition in Santa Clara County, speaking at rallys, visiting Sacramento, and meeting with local legislators. I am also actively working to defeat Prop. 76 on the November ballot which would be detrimental to local school districts. We must ensure strong funding for education statewide.

Answer from Ben Liao:

Although CUSD suffer cuts in state funding in the last few years, we had not had any layoffs; although we got about half per student funding compare to neighboring school districts, we have been paying our teachers comparative salary; we had also renovated all 24 schools and opened a new middle school this year. As a two term incumbent, my voting records had shown I am very conservative in district spending and I vow to continue to watch district spending carefully.

Answer from Susan McGhie:

I will do my best to make sure that we get our fair share of state education funds. Cupertino Union School District is the lowest funded district in Santa Clara County. I will also do all I can to make sure every extra penny that we have goes to the classroom and to our students. I will look for and find any waste and do what I can to return the found monies to the classrooms.

I am disappointed in the process used this year during a school board meeting where a large pay raise was given to two administrators (over $30,000 in salary and perks). See http://www.svcn.com/archives/cupertinocourier/20050601/cu-coverstrip.shtml

The superintendent has received excessive raises and shifts in his salary over time. Please see: http://www.community-newspapers.com/archives/cupertinocourier/20030507/cu-coverstrip.shtml

We need to be more aware of how it looks to parents and teachers when these kind of pay raises continue to happen. We have a great school district and we want to keep it that way, but we can do better!

Let's get the money into our classrooms!

The order of the candidates is random and changes daily.