Please - It is very important to quit talking about the STEM - the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics program and realize we need to change it once and for all to the STEAM program - science, technology , engineering, ARTS and mathematics.

We must invest in ARTS to the same degree as we do to every other discipline!

I hope to get support for this from the community and from the school board -

Thank you -

Just for the record, I remember a contested election in 1998.......which is 4 years after 1994.

I get the point about it being a while since this many candidates have come forward but I wanted to get the record straight.

I fully agree with BD's comment above. We need STEAM not just STEM planning.
Without the arts, a society is just a big clan not far removed from the caves.

On the 478 unanimous votes over 8 years.

What is the consequence of that?

There are over 20 meetings a year. Each meeting has an agenda that needs approval. Also there is a consent calendar for routine business at each meeting that by policy needs unaminous approval (board members may have items removed from this connect calendar if they want to discuss or don't agree) and there is a meeting adjournment motion that is typically unanimous (unless a board member doesn't want the meeting to end.)

So the math is: 3 procedural motions per meeting for 20 meetings a year x 8 years. That gets me to well over 400 unanimous votes in that period and I ask again what is the consequence?

"By the end of forum, after some discussion among attendees, representatives from the District Teachers Association voted to endorse Joe Mitchener, Dana Bunnett and Sanjay Dave for the school board over candidates Torok, Kevin Kramer, Doug Moore and Fiona Walter."

So, the question remains, WHY did the teachers choose to endorse Mitchener, Bunnett and Dave? WHAT CRITERIA did they use in arriving at that decision? Was their choice of candidates unanimous, or near unanimous?

This endorsement could have a big impact on the outcome of a close race. There is nothing in this article that explains how or why the teachers chose which candidates to endorse!

Also, in the 4th paragraph, "By the end of the forum...." all candidates are listed by their full name, except Debbie Torok who is mentioned by last name only. Could you please fix that typo?

Neither of the incumbents have gathered any votes yet for this office (Judy H. had gathered many votes - over many years). I'm sure, the teacher's picked, after they read their various interviews and campaign statements and web sites (if existing), those three candidates who could bring the teacher's idea of the needed diversity and breath-of-understanding of the community. Doesn't look like they just considered "most years on the (a) school board" or "the right male/female balance" or "most years in PTAs" or "must live in Mountain View" or "must live in Los Altos" or "Most Strongly support ARTS."

Does this particular group of teachers know how to make their endorsement count? Are they going to run small "MVLA Teachers Endorse" campaign ads in the MV Voice and LA Crier? Are we going to see "Teachers endorse ..." placards in their private car windows? Or will this article (and one in Crier) be "it"?

In terms of teacher recommendations I usually vote for whomever the union doesn't support. The candidates rejected by the union are usually ones that are pushing for innovation instead of the status quo. In the LASD race I heard that Mr. Swan didn't even attend the teachers forum so he is getting my vote.

Please take note of the comment about reaching out to minority and at risk students. Nothing wrong per se with that except to illegal aliens. In China even a legal resident but not a citizen cannot go to public school at all. Their parents must send and pay for them to go to a private school. Its well past time for America to do the same and only provide education benefits to citizens and legal residents.

Dear Sue from St. Francis Acres: you have a 'non-passing grade' in local civics I'm afraid.

You seem to have confused yourself (and the viewers who may be Voters in the Mountain View-Los Altos High School District) that MVLA high school district candidates - somehow have anything to do with the Los Altos elementary district candidates. So, I hope people realize that you may not quite know what you are talking about! Basic civics error - confusing local governments. And I think I can fairly call your "oppose whatever the Teacher's Union supports" as pretty much "uninformed".

There is not a big Teacher's Union ax to grind in this (MVLA) high school board election. At least as far as I'm aware.

signed, an INFORMED VOTER!
(check the "Santa Clara County" Registrar of Voters for the 'candidates list' pg.39

I was too harshly critical of Sue. She does seem to understand MVLA is not Los Altos School District. Unfortunately - Mr. Swan does not seem willing to even 'talk to the teachers' from the school district he is a candidate for??? I hope that is not the case. There is enough contention in LASD (the Bullis thing) without a board member who is unwilling to talk to the teachers.
I hope Mr. Swan says it isn't so [but then again - that is off topic - this article was about how ALL the MVLA candidates were willing to talk to the Teachers Union forum]. It is good for candidates to talk to all stakeholder - isn't it?

Maybe Mr. Swan is very interested in hearing from teachers - but maybe not the teacher's union. Teacher's union and teachers are really two very different things. Teachers are forced to pay union dues. Not all teachers are the same, some are much better at it than others, and it has nothing to do with how much time you spend on it outside of school.

I don't teach in MVWSD, I am a high school teacher in a K-12 district. K-8 districts should be done away with. They are an artifact from the 19th century. We should combine LASD, MVWSD and MVLA into one district AND we should work on tossing out the unions. In general I find that the MVLA board and administration is much more professional and intelligent than our crazy LASD board. MVWSD seems to be more solid but does seem to have at least one member that is off his rocker.

If you want to improve your schools. Stop paying teachers only for years of service and basket weaving ed classes. Pay effective teachers more. Offer stipends for extra work after hours and weekends for targeted projects.

Arts are hobbies. STEM collectively represent valuable life skills. Children pick up hobbies on their own, during recess, and in after-school activities. Public schooling should focus on enabling children to succeed, and diverting significant resources elsewhere is a disservice to the low-income students who can't get enough academic preparation at home.

@ Be Reasonable - Wow! Arts are hobbies? Does that mean that the arts don't employ people? What a small and depressing world you must live in if you believe that the only valuable life skills are in STEM. I assume that you're not spending any time watching TV, watching movies, listening to music, attending plays, concerts or symphonies, attending museums, reading advertisements or surfing cool websites since all of those activities are made possible to you by those (talented) hobbyists.

@Be Reasonable's view reflects a common conceit in this area -- that STEM, and only STEM related domains are of any value. I could just as easily argue that STEM related subjects are basically just vocational training for technology jobs, but that would be equally myopic. The full spectrum of arts and sciences are necessary to develop a well rounded human being. And let's not forget, the genesis of some of Apple's earliest innovation and differentiation was a calligraphy class that Steve Jobs took in college. Not sure Calligraphy is on anyone's STEM curriculum...

STEM is not "better" or "worse" than other subjects. It just happens to be an area that schoolteachers are not often good at. A college graduate in a STEM field is much less likely to be interested in a teaching career than a graduate in another field. Plus, the idea of "STEAM" is also problematic. Why are arts more important than, say, history or writing?

"I fully agree with BD's comment above. We need STEAM not just STEM planning. Without the arts, a society is just a big clan not far removed from the caves."

Actually, cave people had plenty of art, but not much STEM. Just sayin'.