hello and welcome to "comunidad del valle." i'm damian trujillo. and today we're going to spend the entire half hour learning how our schools might be failing our children. this is our "comunidad del valle." welcome back to "comunidad del valle." the report is called "broken promises," and it explains some of the problems and some successes in our schools in san mateo and santa clara county. with me is matt hammer and he brought along a parent, elizabeth alvarez. welcome to the show. >> thank you. >> matt, tell me about this report. let me first bring up the graphics that we created,

because these were supplied in your report. explain to me, first, let's talk about this graph right here. these are students who are eighth grade algebra eligible and the numbers don't look good. go ahead and describe that for us. >> basically, we looked at all the schools in santa clara and santa matteo and wanted to see what percentage of the children are leaving the eighth grade proficient or advanced in algebra by the end of eighth grade. and we found some really startling numbers that in many, many districts across the valley, it is 25% or fewer of the latino kids are leaving middle school proficient or advanced in algebra. that means many are going to have a very hard time succeeding in high school and getting into college. >> i think the next graphic highlights that. then it shows those who did attend four years in high school, how ready they are to

attend uc or csu. look how startling these numbers are. >> numbers get worse in high school where these children, many of whom are not proficient in algebra and 20% of latino kids are graduating high school with the credits to get into a state university. what we know in the valley, if you don't have a college degree, life is going to be quite hard to get a job that's going to pay well enough to survive in this valley. >> as a parent, elizabeth, with children attending school, how acceptable is that data to you? >> well, it's extremely painful to be able to see it in black and white. a lot of us that have been working on education issues for the last, you know, 15, 20 years, i myself have been working on it for the last 11 years through working as a community leader and working on small schools. this is something that has been, you know, the reason for our

work. so it's nice to be able to have it in black and white and a clear report so that we can learn from those that are doing -- you know, having really good success with latinos and african-american students and also just work to create more of what has been working. >> matt, tell me about your group. who did this research and how long did it take you to come up with the data? >> the organization we just launched in the valley called innovate public schools and basically we're trying to get solid, really clear information out to the community. we worked throughout the past three, four months to put the data together. it's all publicly available off the state department of education's website, so if people want to see for themselves the data, you can go on to the state's website to find that out. >> those who might find criticism with the report will look at the funding sources for it. obviously, it's a pro charter

school group who helped fund the majority of it. your response to that -- maybe that part of the allegation from some of those that are critics of charter schools in general? >> yeah. we've been funded by the walton foundation, silicon valley community foundation, ann bowers and the noise foundation, lisa sancini, a number of other people have supported our work and these are all people and organizations and foundations that are haefly committed to creating great schools. they are funding things around the valley, bay area, and country, and it's really somewhat about charter schools, but it's really about looking at the models of schools that work and wanting to grow more of those great schools for low-income kids. >> the numbers don't really lie. we're going to have the superintendent of public instruction for santa clara county in the next couple of segments to talk about what we're doing as a community to address these issues, but what

should he take for this, what should he take from this and are public schools basically failing our kids? >> well, the superintendent has been a huge champion his whole career, including here in santa clara county for low income kids and other subgroups, latinos and african-americans, who are too often in failing public schools, so he's been using his position to try to advance this agenda, as well. he's a great partner and champion for this cause. you know, i think it's important sort of bitter medicine that we all need to take a real cold hard look at the reality of the numbers. i think a lot of people assume that here in silicon valley we would be doing a much better job than the data actually shows that we are and we're not so different really than a lot of other metropolitan areas around the country. here, you know, we're fortunate to have some growing number of really great schools, so our basic message is look at the data, look at the schools that are succeeding, and let's all

come together and figure out how to grow more schools doing a great job. >> the group is called innovate public schools. there's their website for more information. elizabeth, we'll talk to you more after the break about what you're doing at your schools that seems to be working when we continue. stay with us.

back here talking education on "comunidad del valle." elizabeth, some parents out there might be alarmed at what they are seeing. what do you think the schools your children are attending, what are they doing right, maybe, that are preparing your children to succeed? >> so i have a very close relationship with four of the five schools that have demonstrated some of the really great success in math, so i have this really good perspective because i'm able to see through the work that we've done and

having had created some of these really amazing schools, so i see that there is high expectations all the way around, right, of students, of people working with students, high level of ownership and accountability, so where if there's something that's missing or wrong or something that's not working right, then there's a lot of collaboration between all of the partners, whether parents, the students, and the teachers and princip principals. so it's collaborative, it's team efforts, it's working in partnership with all the same mission of high expectations for students and there's really no excuse. there's really all about, you know, people are there to do the work and making sure that chirp are successful. >> your children are lucky to have you. what do you tell parents who might have to work two or three jobs even to make ends meet,

where parent involvement might not be where it should be? it's difficult for some families. it's not an excuse, it shouldn't be, but it's a reality, i think. >> i think that's where the responsibility lies on the school to make it just to have a lot of different options for families, because it's true, you know, many of our families and low-income communities, they are working multiple jobs and it's unfair to expect that, you know, after all of those hours you're going to be able to be in the classroom, but i think the schools that are successful are the ones that offer during the weekends opportunities to learn, whether it's participant trainings or whether it's come and do activities at the school on the weekends or evenings, so i think it's really about teachers being very accessible, so you have parents and teachers that communicate via text or in the evenings or even on the weekends or during the school day when i have heard parents say, oh, the teacher texted me

because she was wondering if my son had taken his medication that day. that's valuable. >> i don't want to end this segment without having you say what you need to say. tell me what you feel we need to know about your report and maybe the next steps. >> well, you know, the report has a lot of kind of depressing information in it about a lot of region-wide failure with the sub populations of kids, but there's a lot in there about what is going right. we see an ever growing number of really, really high performing schools. we're lucky in the valley to have some of the best schools in the country serving low income kids, really fabulous charter networks wanting to grow more schools and what you see in these schools is this sort of unyielding high expectations, no excuses kind of culture where the parents and the staff are on the same page that they are not going to rest until every kid gets to grade level, and because of that foundation culture that they have, they are able to do

amazing things with their kids and you don't see that in a lot of the regular public schools. >> part of this immigration reform issue in washington are the h-1v visas. we're talking about techies. we can grow our own techies. that data tells me we're not doing a good job of that. >> i think that's right and there's five or ten schools right now in the valley doing an amazing job with any child that they get that are huge percentages of the kids being proficient in algebra and if you are by the end of eighth grade, you're going to be on the stem track in high school so you can take and pass algebra and calculus by the end of high school and those kids are going to be ready for some of the best jobs in the valley and that's what we want for all kids. >> our children kind of share the same school, campus,

elizabeth, what intrigues me is the fact you have to commit to 30 hours either inside the classroom or the school as a parent otherwise your child can't attend. how important is that to create that parental involvement atmosphere? >> i'd say it's extremely important, not only just because you're present in the space of the school on campus, but also because of the ability to have accountability, the ability to be able to have that relationship with that teacher or principal that, you know, you know each other or you can call each other out even, right? even if at times where there's relationships, hey, what happened, i missed you at that meeting, why didn't you show up, versus when you don't have a relationship. it's about that relationship that you can nurture and build and also to build accountability, as well. >> very good. the website, again, log on and get this report in full. any final thoughts, matt, before i let you go? >> i think there's a lot of hope in this report and there's no reason why silicon valley can't

be a home for some of the most exciting education innovation in the valley. >> all right. if those numbers aren't startling to all of you, then maybe that's a problem in itself. it should be startling to a lot of people, parents and even those who are not parents. thank you so much for the work you're doing, thank you for topping by. up next on "comunidad del valle," superintendent of santa clara county schools. [ male announcer ] on vacation, you want more of the things you love. ♪ hello, bacon.

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he has seen the report, xavier de la torre is the superintendent of santa clara county schools, generous enough to join us here on "comunidad del valle." i only have one rule on the show, you can't outdress the host, and you broke that rule. we're getting off on the wrong foot. i don't know what to say about that. >> should have read the memo. >> we talked briefly when this report was initially released and you hadn't seen all of it, but you were disturbed by what you had seen. you had a chance to read, i

would imagine, the report by now. give us your assessment of what is in it. >> certainly, the information is sobering. it doesn't, i think, reflect well in general, but it isn't anything that i would suggest that district superintendents and other public school officials aren't aware of, and much of that data is what drives their work every day. it's what drew me to santa clara county, that and recognizing that the county board wanted to take a more aggressive, a more bold approach and get involved and engaged in helping these very school districts deal with this academic achievement gap that has historically plagued latinos, students from social economically disadvantaged realities, as well as english learners. that's what excites me and gets

me up every morning, and that is how do we turn this trend around, because our economic prosperity in this country will depend on a well educated trained workforce and as the number of students that fit that demographic continue to grow, if we're not being successful with those students, then i think that our economic prosperity will soon be in jeopardy. >> sure. i want to expand on that in our next segment here on the show. let me just ask you this, with this report, do you defend your administrators and the teachers in public schools or do you hold their feet to the fire? >> no. i think what the role of the county of office education is to be there to support their work and to understand what best practices are having the desired outcome in successful schools and to try and provide professional development and training for teachers, our instructional leaders out in school districts, so that they

can embrace this pedagogue that seems to have a desired impact on students not having a good experience in school. >> how bothered are you by the numbers? >> i have not seen it presented that way, but i'm very familiar with the academic achievement gap. it wasn't something that made me say, wow. i recognized for some time that maybe one out of every four latino students is having a good experience in school and that just isn't acceptable, so we have to get up every morning and find ways to improve that experience for those students and it involves making sure there are elements in every public school system that have shown to reverse that trend. they include the first and most important, high expectations for all students. low expectations is a

microinequity, sometimes by virtue of being associated with an ethnic group or being an english language learner sometimes can have a -- can result in approaching that student from a deficit model. we don't want to do that. we want to challenge these students, push these students to achieve more than they believe they can achieve and make sure their parents are partners in this endeavor. >> does your office have the power to do the credentialing for the teachers? >> we make sure teachers are compliant with highly qualified teachers. our biggest, i think, role as a county office is to make sure that we offer school districts in the way of professional development and training is research based, time tested, effective methods and practices. and so we've reengineered the county office to deal with english learners and strategies for improving the academic

achievement of english learners through our a.l.l. program. we've introduced a leadership development training program for aspiring administrators, assistant principals, principals, and other district administrators so they can supervise and evaluate instruction in the classroom and more importantly provide the kind of support that teachers need in the form of professional development. we understand that school districts need reliable data and that student information systems that can quickly assess the progress or lack of progress a student is making is available to teachers so that they can inform their instruction in the classroom. we believe in common planning periods for teachers so that teachers no longer work in isolation in the classroom and they feel they are part of a professional learning community, so those are the type of services, the type of -- that's the value we bring to this arena, and in developing

relationships with the 31 school district superintendents and their staff, we want to make sure if they have a population of students that aren't making progress, that we have options for them in helping them train the adults in the system to perform better, because ultimately, students are not going to perform better until the adults perform better. it's tied closely together. >> very well put. he is the superintendent of public instruction in santa clara county. there is the web address for the county office of administration. log on and find out about more of their programs. we'll talk more and wrap this up when we continue. stay with us. ♪

[ roars ] ♪ ♪ [ roars ] ♪ [ roars ] ♪ [ male announcer ] universal studios summer of survival. ♪ we're talking education here on "comunidad del valle" with the superintendent of public schools in santa clara county:should the message to incoming teachers be if you're

not ready to roll up your sleeves, you need not apply? >> yeah. i think that teachers, by large in part, come to work and give us 110%. and that in many cases they are undercompensated for the kind of work that it takes to move that academic agenda. and the reality is, you have to have a core value that puts students first and refuses to accept that some students cannot reach their promise and potential. so teachers are very special people in that regard. having said that, teachers, administrators, folks in private industry, need ongoing and continued professional development and training to keep bringing that a-game and that's what the county office of education is committed to providing to the 31 school districts and other cmos in

santa clara county. >> we're talking off camera about that step that parents make in deciding whether to send their kids to a charter school or dual-language emerging schools. give us your take on that. i think the message is if they are willing to even consider it, that means they are engaged. >> the first element that's important is to recognize when a parent considers options, whether it be a matter of choice or whether they are disappointed in the experience their child is having in their traditional public school, by virtue of that, you've got one leg of the three-legged stool that is critical, and that is an adult or adults in a child's life that know and are engaged enough to know that that experience in our public school system will likely impact that child's quality of life in the future. and so it is refreshing to see that parents, more and more parents, are getting more

involved as those impacted. matt and i have worked together most of the year to make sure that more and more parents are aware of the opportunities for their children, but it still comes down to what happens to those children who don't have a parent or who have a parent who is unavailable to really pursue some of these opportunities, whether it be in the traditional public school or in a charter school. and i don't think that either entity should be mutually exclusive. i think there's a real opportunity for the sharing of best practices, because there are some charter schools that are having tremendous success in the silicon valley and there are also some traditional public schools that are having success in the valley. and whatever those best practices are, they need to be shared so that all students can have a great experience in either public school system. >> there is some sort of middle line there, grab something from the charter school model and

public school model and come up with maybe a component that works. >> yeah. i think that the blended learning or hybrid model that a lot of charter schools promote is something that needs to be seriously considered. and by blended model, i mean in some cases there's direct instruction from a teacher, but in other cases the child has access to programs on a computer that allow that child to make progress at the level that challenges them. in other words, if you have students that are high performing, they can move forward and continue to accelerate their learning. if you have students that need some additional support, they begin where they feel comfortable and more importantly, you can measure that progress and intervene on their behalf when they struggle. and so i think that those type of programs, online programs, computer-based programs, have a place in our traditional public

schools and that if the resources are available and resources in schools are improving, that serious consideration should be made to investing in that type of model, because it's proven to be very successful with rocket ship and some of the more successful charter schools, but all of them, all the district superintendents out there, this is what drives them every day and they are working, i think, very hard to provide all students with a quality education and the santa clara office of education's role is to make sure if they have needs, whether it be professional development or training around technology that's available, that we provide it and provide it at a nominal rate. >> all right. parental involvement in everything is crucial. again, the county office of education, there is the web address for more information. thank you so much. you took the job because you saw the numbers and wanted to do something about it.

we'll bring you back in a few months and see how we're progressing. >> thank you. >> if you have any ideas for next week's show or you want to drop me an e-mail, there's my e-mail address or follow me on twitter. also pick up a copy of our newspaper and support your bilingual weeklies all across the bay area. we thank you for sharing a part of your sunday with us. we will not be with you next week but will be back on "comunidad del valle" in a couple of weeks.

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