Public Education

Two recent events have reminded me of how valuable and important public education is to our society.  The first was attending the graduation of my son Nate at California State University at San Jose State.  It was extremely moving to see how proud and excited all the parents were sitting in the stands at Spartan Stadium as the 5,000 capped and gowned graduates sat on the football field below.  The tremendous diversity of the graduates was inspiring and a reaffirmation of every families' hopes for tomorrow.  At one point the speaker asked that all students who were the first graduates in their families to raise their hands and it seemed like 50% did.  We have to recognize how vital an opportunity this is and keep higher education affordable!

The other event was the recent retirement of Dan Cavanaugh a gifted and dedicated elementary school principal who led Bay View school for 20 years, ending in a couple days.  Remarkably, he led the staff through an educational process and strategy that side stepped the no child left behind test driven curriculum and resulted in Bay View School earning a huge State School rating of 7 or 8, one of the five best in the County.  In this day of school voucher discussions, inane testing and other threats to our public schools, hats off to the dedicated teachers and principals whose first priority is the education of all children!