League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Santa Clara County, CA November 4, 2008 Election
	Diane T. Gordon Answers Questions Candidate for Board Member; Campbell Union High School District

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?

The budget is the main tool that is used to track how money is spent. The budget is a public record and a copy can be requested by anyone. We are also working to have it posted on the Internet. Some money, Categorical money can only be spent for the designated purpose per law. This is usually some of the State and federal money. Regarding local money, our bond and parcel tax money comes to mind. Each of these funds has a public oversight committee that reviews the expenses and verifies that the expenditure is for one of the intended purposes per the parcel tax or bond agreements. The oversight committee's report is presented to the Board Members advising of their findings. This presentation takes place during a Board meeting and is noted in the Board meeting minutes. Expenditures must be approved by the Board and the Board minutes serve as a record of the expenditure authorization.

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

Our schools are offering a variety of classes appropriate to diverse educational backgrounds. We offer special classes for ESL students, special education students and students needing extra assistance to pass Algebra. We also offer honors and advanced placement classes for high performing students. We also belong to a JPA, CCOC/Metro Ed which provides career technical programs.

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

Five years from now I would expect to see a significant improvement in the achievement gap and drop out rate. I also expect each school to have made significant progress towards being a high performing school. In order to achieve these results, we have instituted a number of programs. As an example, we have just rolled out a special program to more closely monitor freshmen so that we can correct problems sooner. We have increased and improved the number of ways parents can track student performance. We continue to build partnerships with many segments of the community that provide resources to support students.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' responses are not edited or corrected by the League.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 19, 2008 19:47
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