After being stuck in another country for five days, more than one hundred Bay Area residents are headed home today — thanks to one lawmaker. For the past two weeks, the Saratoga and Lynbrook high school bands have been performing in concert halls in Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic. Once their tour ended, the...
UPDATE: San Jose school district to ask voters to fund teacher housing
A plan to provide housing for teachers is moving forward in East San Jose. The Alum Rock Union School District voted 4-1 Thursday in favor of changing the language of an existing bond to use some of its remaining funds to build affordable housing for teachers and staff. Trustee Linda Chavez voted no. Measure J,...
San Jose State loses out on millions in student housing
San Jose State University is missing out on a sizable pot of state money for affordable housing. While 26 California universities received portions of a $1.4 billion affordable housing grant to build needed below-market housing for students, San Jose State University—with a homeless student population of 11.2% according to a spring 2021 SJSU basic needs...
Silicon Valley school district exhales as bond measure passes
Santa Clara County voters approved funding more than $24 million in education in June, but one school district held its breath for days hoping the bond measure would pass. Fremont Union High School District’s Measure G required 55% voter approval and just squeaked by with 55.71% in the June 7 primary. The district asked...
Santa Clara County school funding spurs disparity
In Santa Clara County, not all school districts are created equal. In affluent neighborhoods near Saratoga Union and Los Altos Elementary school districts where the median price of a home is more than $2 million, according to censusreporter.org, property taxes boost student funding and programs remain robust. The situation is not as rosy in other...
Police officers will remain on San Jose school campuses
Six months after San Jose’s largest school district voted to boot cops off campuses, it quietly brought them back on an individual basis. Now those officers will remain on campuses until June, trustees decided in a controversial vote this week. The San Jose Unified School District Board of Trustees on Thursday voted unanimously to extend...
Latest effort to help homeless Silicon Valley students: Guaranteed income
Homeless high school students in Santa Clara County may soon receive an income lifeline. State Sen. Dave Cortese is working to bring guaranteed income to local homeless high school seniors through a pilot program, after a similar bill, SB 1341, failed in the state Legislature. He’s asked Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg to help...
Silicon Valley educators locked out of housing market
To attract and retain teachers and other workers, Silicon Valley school districts need a golden ticket—affordable housing. House buying in the Bay Area has become so prohibitive, educators are either forced to pay expensive rents or live hours away. In response to this crisis, Los Gatos, Palo Alto and Santa Clara have invested in teacher...
Hot classroom sign of bigger issue in East San Jose
An East San Jose classroom reaching nearly 90 degrees—and a deafening silence from administrators to keep it in working order—is the latest example of underinvestment and inequities in one of the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods. A classroom at Renaissance Academy at Fischer Middle School, located at 1720 Hopkins Drive in San Jose, became unbearable this past...
A new high school is coming to downtown San Jose
A Los Gatos high school is expanding into downtown San Jose, breathing new life into two historic buildings. Hillbrook School, an 87-year-old private school, is leasing the Moir Building, located at 227 N. First Street, and San Jose Armory, located at 240 N. Second Street, for at least 25 years. The move allows the Junior...