The Cupertino Courier

Byron, Liao, Fielden for CUSD board

It would be hard to elect an unqualified board to lead the Cupertino Union School District for the next four years. All four candidates have done their homework on the issues: class-size reduction, growth in enrollment, facilities, year-round schooling and a possible switch to a middle school curriculum, to name some.

But voters can only elect three. The Courier has decided to cast its vote for local experience.

Incumbent Debbie Byron has served four years on an outstanding school board. She and other board members lobbied Sacramento to increase the state allotment for class-size reduction when many other districts simply waited to see what would come down the pike. She interviewed potential superintendents and helped select a proven leader to head the district, one with solid experience in converting junior high schools to middle schools. She has faced rooms full of concerned parents, considered their issues carefully and cast well-researched votes to improve local schools. And, although CUSD's per-pupil funding from the state is one of the lowest in the county, she and other trustees--along with teachers, administrators and classified personnel--have continued to create a world-class school district for Cupertino's children.

Ben Liao, a software engineer with two children in the district, has served the last two years as president of the Asian-American Parents Association. The group has been the best vehicle in the district for getting new citizens involved in Cupertino schools. With children in both elementary and junior high school, he has a feel for the full range of problems and possible solutions the district must grapple with in the next four years.

Like the other candidates, Barbara Fielden is familiar with the challenges facing CUSD. Unlike other candidates, however, she has less of a learning curve to climb before understanding potential solutions and their ramifications. She has been a fixture at board meetings for the past 2 1/2 years, with an attendance record at least as good as most trustees'. She is a parent at McAuliffe Elementary School, where she was the Parent-Faculty Association's grants committee chair for four years and president for two years. She's been a member of the district's budget advisory committee, an advisory group that studies district finances and makes recommendations about the budget to the school board. She is well schooled in class-size reduction, middle school, facilities and growth issues.

We endorse Byron, Liao and Fielden to lead the Cupertino Union School District as board members.

Julius Chiang, the father of one kindergartner and one future CUSD student, has a vested interest in improving Cupertino schools. As a Junior Achievement adviser he has had several years' experience in education--but virtually none of his school service has been local. Chiang, a banker who is a vice president and manager of two offices, has only recently moved to Cupertino. We think he has outstanding potential to be a leader in the district and urge him to get involved in his child's school site council and parent association, and to lend his financial expertise to the district's budget advisory committee.

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