League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	Santa Clara, Santa Cruz County, CA November 6, 2012 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Board Member; Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District

The questions were prepared by the Leagues of Women Voters of Santa Clara County and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on Use of Funds, Appropriate Instruction, District Goals Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. How would you determine that the schools are using federal, state and local funds wisely and fairly and how would you report your findings to the community? Answer from Rosemary Rossi: To determine that our schools are using funds wisely and fairly requires sound fiscal oversight and contnuous monitoring of the budget. Frequent updates and reviews are necessary. The budget document needs to be reviewed, not only by the board, but also, by the public at regualr intervals. The budget document is posted on our school website for all parents to review. There is also a once yearly report that is mailed to the community summarizing our position. The community is welcomed to the board meetings and our board meetings are recorded for those who cannot attend. Every effort is made to be transparent and questions from any one are welcomed. 2. Are the schools offering instruction appropriate to the diverse educational abilities of all the students? Answer from Rosemary Rossi: This is an area that is of vital importance to the success of all students. At this time our district is providing staff training to enable our teachers to better understand the different learning styles of students and then be better able to incorportate various teaching styles in their daily instruction. This is an ongoing effort on the part of teachers and it is necessary for the district to allocate funds to provide adequate, up-to-date information to enable our teachers to differentiate their instruction so that they can reach all of our students. 3. Where do you want the District to be five years from now? What steps should the District take to get there? Answer from Rosemary Rossi: In five years, I would like to see our distrit leading the way in differentiated learning and providing an engaging curriculum for all of our students. The district is exploring a concept called "New Tech" high which provides a project based learning curriculum for those students who struggle in a traditional classroom. Our regular curriculum needs to be evaluated and update to include the latest in research and technology. New methods in teaching using technology should be evaluated and incorporated when relevant. Finally, we need to be as environmentally efficient as possible. Students need to be involved in the greening of our schools by including them in determining the problem areas and then working together to resolve the issues. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. Please answer each question in no more than 400 words. Direct references to opponents are not permitted. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.