San Jose’s largest school district is projecting a need for hundreds of teachers starting next fall, but hurdles remain amid an ongoing shortage. San Jose Unified School District estimates it needs to hire 202 teachers for the 2023-24 school year, according to the California Department of Education. Education officials said districts are looking for teachers, but...
Silicon Valley community college wants the 50-plus crowd
It’s never too late to go back to school, and one Silicon Valley community college district wants to welcome older adults as it looks to fill its student ranks. The West Valley-Mission Community College District is releasing a survey in May to garner ideas on how to make higher education age-friendly. Advocates said increasing education access...
San Jose State students want recognition for Filipino farmworkers
Filipino students at San Jose State University said honoring a key leader in the farmworkers rights movement is long overdue—and they staged a rally to make their intentions known. With signs reading “Cynthia Teniente Matson Act Now” and “Campus Planning Board Act Now,” Students for Filipino Farmworkers protested today at the Arch of Dignity, Equality...
San Jose parents frustrated by loss of college program
San Jose parents are upset over their school district’s decision to shut down a popular enrichment program and want to know why they are just now learning about it. San Jose Unified School District closed its middle college program last April, which allowed high school juniors and seniors to attend school at a community college...
San Jose college administrator dies on vacation in Mexico
A top official and longtime leader of the San Jose-Evergreen Community College District has died. Vice Chancellor Jorge Escobar died recently while vacationing in Mexico, according to a Tuesday statement from the district. Escobar, 55, was in the running to take over as chancellor from Interim Chancellor and San José Spotlight columnist Raúl Rodríguez, according...
Silicon Valley teachers say ethnic studies isn’t just about credentials
As Santa Clara County school districts ramp up high school ethnic studies classes, educators said more training is sorely needed at the local level to ensure quality courses on diversity are being provided. California became the first state in the nation in 2021 to require high schoolers to take ethnic studies in order to graduate....
San Jose student enrollment is a mixed bag
Santa Clara County’s largest school districts are dealing with declining student enrollment this school year. Yet, one group is seeing a surprising enrollment increase. Although school districts are reporting a loss in student population for the 2022-23 school year, according to new data from the California Department of Education, a deeper dive shows that’s not...
What’s the former San Jose mayor teaching at Stanford?
Former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo had his first day on campus this week, and he couldn’t be more excited. Liccardo, who termed out last year, started a part-time gig as a Stanford University law professor on Monday. His course explores the fiscal, legal and political struggles of policymaking to solve what he said are the...
Experts criticize San Jose State’s ranking as ‘affordable’
San Jose State University placed in the nation’s top 10 most affordable colleges in a recent study, but the ranking is raising eyebrows among advocates wondering how that is possible. A Credit Summit study names SJSU as the eighth most affordable college out of 25 in major U.S. college cities. Advocates said while the university may be...
San Jose desperately needs more crossing guards
Rain or shine, crossing guards guide students to class at the beginning and end of every school day. But a swath of San Jose districts are missing that familiar face. School districts across the city are struggling to hire crossing guards in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials and school leaders said the shortage...