The Cupertino Courier

Why Me?

Barbara Fielden

Tuesday, Nov. 4. Election Day. It seems very personal to me.

Ironically, serving on the school board is not a personal thing at all. It is something that I want to do for 15,000 children, for hundreds of district employees, and, in maintaining the quality of our schools, for our whole community.

Why? Why would a person choose to spend time away from her family to participate in a system that can be like the Queen Mary, ponderous and difficult to redirect? Why put myself in a position where there simply is no way to make everyone happy or to meet every need?

Because someone who cares a lot needs to do it, and someone with knowledge and experience can do it best. I care about children and parents, about every anecdote I hear, about every story of a struggling child. I care about the hundreds of people who work for the district--who work for us, and I want them to be valued and respected. Children are not a product. Employees are not cogs in a bureaucratic machine. The district has a human face, and anyone who serves on its board must always be able to see it.

We must be able to see it even when we face challenges and make hard choices.

We face many challenges all the time. Right now, class-size reduction--reducing primary grades to 20 students or less per class--is creating tremendous staffing and facilities issues, including the possibilities of a year-round multitrack school, sixth-graders moving to middle schools, a parcel tax, the purchase and placement of modular classrooms and the reopening of closed school sites. No matter what decisions the board makes on these issues, there will be some people who will not believe they were the best decisions, and for them, they might well not be. That is a very sad thing, and it is important for board members to recognize the impact that their decisions will have on individuals, as well as on the district as a whole.

The mix of cultures that we have creates other challenges and opportunities. We must have board members who remember the common humanity of all of us, and who seek to build bridges between cultures and to promote acceptance of one another.

There are many other issues. I hear about them as I visit schools and as I talk to people in neighborhoods. People are concerned about basic academics, special education, day care, transportation, bilingual education, school safety and a trend toward pushing children to grow up too fast. They think there is too much change, or the wrong kind. Some believe things need to change more.

To all this I bring seven years' experience as a parent volunteer--classroom aide; parent-faculty group president; grants committee chair; member of district committees (including Budget Advisory and Standards and Assessment); and over two years regularly attending district board meetings. This experience gives me a sense of the big picture, along with an awareness of the diverse needs of individuals.

So what would I do about all those issues? I would consider what is best for children and our community. For example, if a year-round multitrack school causes more problems than it solves, then I could not support it. If moving sixth-graders to middle schools allows them to be nurtured, supported and given a program truly appropriate to where they are developmentally, then I might support it. But on these as on other big issues, I will ask what the community thinks. This is a great community. Together we can build a great school district.

Debbie Byron

Four years on the Cupertino school board have gone by quickly! You elected me in 1993 to represent you and provide leadership for Cupertino schools. I'm proud to have served as president, legislative action chair, finance chair for Measure A (our successful bond measure) and superintendent search chair. I've especially enjoyed working with this community and building strong relationships with the administration and teaching staff in our schools. I'm very proud of what we have accomplished together in those four years, including strengthened science, math and literacy instruction; continued facilities modernization; reduced class sizes; expanded community partnerships; rigorous hiring and training of 250 top-quality teachers; and selection of a new superintendent to honor and build on CUSD's great reputation. But the best part of this experience is seeing kids in classrooms who are enthusiastic about learning!

Three most important issues

Our work continues on many fronts, but improving the learning opportunity for our students remains central. I am committed to:

*expanding class-size reduction;

*strengthening the junior high program;

*completing facilities renovation while maintaining our high student achievement and fiscal responsibility. All three issues are interrelated in their impact on the best use of classrooms, opportunities to improve the educational program and our financial health.

I believe community input is critical. By necessity, the development of a long-term coordinated plan for school facilities must occur more quickly than in the past due to the immediate demand for class-size-reduction classrooms, a growing student population and planned renovation of the junior high schools. I will ensure community participation in this process, as well as in the implementation planning for any new schools and programs.

Quality of educational programs must be the driving force--and the educators in our district are best qualified to guide us. I want class-size reduction to be measurably effective. We must offer enrichment and improve staffing ratios at every grade level. And--something we have been working on for several years--we need a model program for our young adolescents that offers them expanded learning and exploration in a safe, nurturing environment designed to meet their needs. I will support the same thoughtful planning and communications process CUSD is known for, and the methodical, financially prudent implementation that has been our strength.

CUSD has made a commitment to this community to complete facilities renovation at all of our schools. I will ensure that we use our bond funds as promised--which includes science labs and media centers for all students. I will continue to work with our legislators in Sacramento to deliver facilities funds for CUSD.

I'm honored to serve this community

*Experience: I have four years of experience on this board and established relationships in CUSD, our community and Sacramento. I am eager to work with our new superintendent and our young board to provide needed continuity. I have 20 years of proven business management experience that contributes to my effectiveness.

*Leadership: I have been a constructive member of the CUSD board, working well with all members and providing leadership in numerous areas. I have taken strong positions to ensure that CUSD stays focused on children, and financially sound.

* Commitment: I'm here because I care about the children in our classrooms, and I'm committed to public education. I believe every child deserves the quality of education that CUSD provides. With your support, we will continue to improve in how we meet the educational needs of our students.

Please show that you care about our children, too, by voting on November 4.

Julius Chiang

My name is Julius Chiang and I am a candidate for the Cupertino school board. I was raised in the Bay Area and am a product of public education. I am grateful and extremely fortunate to have been a recipient of the educational opportunities provided by the public school system. My parents were immigrants and they, too, were educated in public schools. I graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1976 and upon graduation began my career in banking. I have been a banker for the last 19 years and am currently vice president and manager of two offices on the Peninsula.

With two children, ages 5 and 1, I have a vested interest in improving our public school system. My son is in kindergarten at West Valley Elementary School, and one day my daughter will also be entering the Cupertino school district. My wife is extremely supportive and I could not enter into this election without her help.

I do have some experience in teaching and observing what goes on in a classroom. For over 18 years I have taught in middle schools. I was a Junior Achievement business consultant teaching in both private and public schools throughout the Bay Area.

If elected, I would propose the following:

*Elimination of split-grade classrooms throughout elementary schools.

*Maintaining the present structure of having sixth grade in elementary school rather than a transition to a middle school.

*A review of the school budget to ensure that as much funding as possible reaches the classroom level.

*Annual school forums at which board members would listen to the issues that are of concern to parents and teachers.

*Alternative programming to enrich school curriculum.

*Research on and pursuit of alternatives to year-round school.

I have sought no endorsements and I have not accepted any of the many generous offers for financial contributions. I have personally funded 100 percent of my own campaign and to date have spent $250 on signs/flyers, and $750 on the sample ballot. If elected I will have obligations to no one but to the children of the Cupertino Union School District. The current school board and the majority of the candidates have children either in private school, in junior high school, or in their last years of elementary school. I offer balance to the school board. If elected, it is possible that during my term I would be the sole board member having elementary school children. My training and experience as a business manager for a financial institution would provide the board with financial and managerial expertise. As a board member I would serve only one client, the schoolchildren of the Cupertino Union School District.

Ben Liao

I am a software engineer at Hewlett-Packard. My wife, Ellen, and I have two children. My son, Jonathan, is a sixth- grader at Miller Junior High, and my daughter, Christina, is a fourth-grader at Faria School; so we experience the issues with both junior high and elementary in Cupertino school district every day. I have been on the Faria School site council for six years, and for the last two years I have chaired the budget committee. I have been involved in various district committees, including the information system committee, the drug, alcohol, and tobacco education committee, and the Cupertino local improvement panel. I was "Principal for a Day" in 1996. I taught junior achievement class at Rogers Middle School in the Moreland School District until June of this year. For the last two years, I was president of the Asian American Parent Association (AAPA). The group won the CREST award from the city of Cupertino in 1997 for its contribution to bringing different groups in the community together.

I am a strong believer in one-on-one mentoring. At home, I try to be a good parent, not only for my children's material needs but also for their mental and spiritual needs. My wife and I work together to provide a fair and caring environment. We try our best to set examples for our children. Four years ago, when I was with Apple Computer, I volunteered at Nimitz School mentoring a Vietnamese-American student; it was a very rewarding experience.

I joined AAPA four years ago with the intention of getting more parents and volunteers involved in the schools. AAPA as a group has been serving students, schools, parents and the local community. We sponsored the summer picnic each year for the new immigrant parents to ask questions about the school district. We provide workshops to facilitate dialogues between parents and their teenage children. We sponsor multicultural activities for all the schoolchildren in the district. We also act as resources for local organizations to bridge the different cultures in our community. Two years ago, we started to have regular meetings with the Sheriff's Department and work on ways to improve communication between police and the community. At HP now, and at Apple and Taligent before, I worked as a United Way volunteer and helped raise money to sponsor services in the county. Serving on the school board is a natural extension of my services to the community.

If I am elected, I will strive to provide the best learning environment for all 15,000 students in the district. I will monitor the spending of Measure A school bond money very closely, to make sure we spend the money prudently and wisely. I will create high standards and meaningful assessments for the students. I will continue to bridge the different groups in the community and carry on the strong partnerships we have with the local corporations. I will also urge more engineers to get involved in the schools and ask more parents to participate in improving our children's future.

Through my employment in the high-tech industry, I've learned to combine teamwork, creativity and careful analysis to generate the best solutions we can get. I learned to be open-minded to listen to issues from different perspectives. Those are qualities I can bring to the board. With my work in the schools and in the community, I have come to understand the challenges we are facing today and in the future. As a community, we need to make our children's education our top priority; children are our future. Let us work together to make a difference in improving our future.

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