Parents, teachers and school officials at Cornerstone Academy Preparatory School — a kindergarten through eighth grade charter school in the Franklin-McKinley district — are surprised and disappointed by district board members’ recent decision to close the school. Roughly 150 parents filled the school’s cafeteria on Lucretia Avenue Tuesday night in search of answers and school officials...
Education
Education
San Jose: Three Evergreen elementary schools could close due to deficit
Citing low enrollment across its 15 elementary schools in East San Jose, the Evergreen School District Board of Trustees voted 4-1 this week to embark on a plan that would potentially close or consolidate two schools next year and a third school the following year. After roughly 45 minutes of discussion during a meeting Thursday, Trustee...
San Jose Unified School leaders vote to study sites for affordable teacher housing
At a funding rate just short of $12,000 per student per year, San Jose Unified School District officials say they struggle to pay teachers enough to stay in Silicon Valley, one of the nation’s costliest housing markets. Now, district leaders are exploring solutions that include building affordable teacher housing on district property — a concept...
Lawmakers, tech and nonprofit leaders discuss the plight of Silicon Valley teachers
In the heart of tech-fueled wealth in Silicon Valley, teachers are living in their cars, working side jobs or living in crowded apartments with multiple roommates. Cameron Clarno, a choir teacher at Fischer Middle School, has lived in an RV since the start of the school year after moving from his 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom home in Redding....
Bay Area college strikes a controversial policy following student outcry
In a resounding victory for students, the Ohlone College District Board of Trustees voted Wednesday to eliminate a controversial policy that student leaders claim silenced them and led to an abuse of power. The move ends an impasse between top college leaders and a fierce group of student activists who said their voice was being silenced...
San Jose school district unveils plan to hire special education teachers
The number of special education students across the country is rising, but teachers qualified to teach those students aren’t — especially in the South Bay where soaring rents and cost-of-living are squeezing educators out. The National Center for Education Statistics reported that the number of public school students that required special education services rose 14...
Bay Area college students claim suppression by administration
A sign on the Ohlone College campus in Fremont boasts “students first” but the Associated Students at the community college say the message they’re getting from the school’s administration tells a different story. A high-stakes fight between the college’s student leaders and its top administrators has touched off a debate over student independence and free...
Burnett Middle School to be renamed Ohlone Middle School
After a process that brought together students, teachers and the local community, Burnett Middle School will have a new name: Ohlone Middle School. The school’s outgoing namesake is California’s first governor, Peter Burnett, whose racist policies included the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and attempts to keep black Americans out of California. He also believed...
San Jose: Hundreds rally for charter schools amid scrutiny from Sacramento
With charter schools increasingly under scrutiny in Sacramento, hundreds of charter school families, dressed in purple, orange and green, rallied in downtown San Jose Friday to stand up for their rights. The state Legislature is considering two bills, AB 1505 and AB 1507, which would further regulate charter schools. AB 1505 would repeal provisions allowing the state...
Top takeaways from blistering state audit of Alum Rock School District
Another chapter in the long history of mismanagement and financial woes in the Alum Rock Union Elementary School District was written this week in the form of an audit from state officials. The story was a familiar one for those following the troubled East San Jose district: ARUSD officials’ mismanagement of contracts cost the district...