The Santa Clara County Office of Education laid off over 60 special education paraeducators, a position primarily held by women, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Management’s decision leaves classrooms short-staffed nearly a year and a half after we returned to in-person instruction. Students—deprived of employees desperately needed to conduct instruction—yell, punch, kick and bite their peers or...

Our country has a long history of fragmented health care. People with more than one medical condition often have to get care in different places, with providers who use different recordkeeping systems and who don’t always talk to each other to coordinate care. In California, this has been especially true within the behavioral health care...

Men, let’s talk about abortion. For some of us, this may be a difficult and uncomfortable subject, but we do not have the luxury to remain silent. The Supreme Court’s cruel decision to overturn Roe v. Wade affects every woman, girl and person capable of becoming pregnant in this country. Millions will suffer medical and...

Have you ever wondered why two people who get charged with exactly the same crime get sentenced to completely different prison terms? The answer is something called “judicial discretion.” It means that, in the absence of a fixed rule, and with regard to what is fair and equitable under the circumstances and the law, a...

The San Jose City Council on Tuesday will consider approving the Cambrian Village mixed-use project that would bring 428 much-needed new homes to San Jose. Cambrian has a longtime history of being a social hub for the area, but it did not age like a fine wine. Today it stands a largely vacant strip mall...

As the original folks who suggested San Jose look at an empty homes tax, we wanted to respond to Bob Staedler’s cursory critique of the idea. To start, Measure E is indeed a crucial means of funding affordable housing in San Jose. We both publicly and passionately supported the measure when it came on the...

As a doctor, I know that lead is poison. Its effects are especially damaging to children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) put it in stark terms: “Even low levels of lead in blood have been shown to affect IQ, ability to pay attention, and academic achievement.” The effect can result in a permanent...

I’ve got a bone to pick that SJ Today didn’t even consider East San Jose as one of the best neighborhoods in San Jose. First of all, we have all of the best parks in San Jose — Emma Prusch Farm, Overfelt Chinese Cultural Gardens, Lake Cunningham, just a little further up is Grant Ranch...

This time last year I was weeks away from my daughter’s due date, and a few months into my new role as executive director of Teach For America (TFA) Bay Area. I was preparing for a new phase of my life that I could only conceptually understand would be uniquely challenging, and fulfilling. It wasn’t...

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has failed, and continues to fail, the residents of California in spectacular fashion by not adhering to its own mission statement: “We are dedicated to ensuring that you have safe, reliable utility service at reasonable rates, protecting against fraud, and promoting the health of California’s economy.” Under CPUC’s watch...