Group photo of attendees in front of State Capital Building

Thank you to everyone who joined Supervisor Cortese and the Silicon Valley Education Foundation on the Bus Trip to Sacramento. It was a great success and we had many wonderful discussions with our elected leaders including such topics as: arts and athletic funding, finding creative ways to increase funding for education through new legislation and from the community, removing the two thirds majority needed to pass a budget, and the importance of organizations that bolster student achievement, particularly for minorities. To view a table listing how each elected official responded to our questions, click here. For more pictures of the bus trip, please visit the bus trip photo gallery.

Thanks goes to the following people for coming to speak with us:

• Estelle Lemieux, Legislative Affairs, California Teachers Association;
• Assemblymember Ira Ruskin;
• Assemblymember Paul Fong;
• Assemblymember Bill Monning;
• Senator Elaine Alquist;
• Senator Abel Maldonado;
• Assemblymember Jim Beall; and
• Assemblymember Julia Brownley.

A special thanks goes to the following school officials and participating organizations that rode the bus to Sacramento:

• Joseph Di Salvo, Board of Trustees, Santa Clara County Office of Education; 
• Frank Biehl, Board of Trustees,East Side Union High School District; 
• Daniel Bobay, Board of Trustees, Milpitas Unified School District; 
• Gunawan Alisantosa, Board of Trustees, Milpitas Unified School;
• Gustavo Gonzalez, Board of Trustees, Alum Rock Union Elementary School District;
• Merrilee Claverie,Board of Trustees, Evergreen School District;
• Sylvia Alvarez, Board of Trustees, Evergreen School District;
• Francisco Dominguez, Board of Trustees, Gilroy Unified School District;
• Anita Herrmann, Board of Trustees, Sunnyvale School District;
• Chuck Weis, Superintendent, Santa Clara County Office of Education;
• Annette Grasty, Principal, Lakewood Elementary School, Sunnyvale;
• William Derek Grasty, Principal, Treeview/Bidwell Elementary School, Hayward;
• Rob Davis, Chief of Police, City of San Jose;
• La Raza Roundtable;
• West Coast Aquatics;
• Milpitas Unified School District;
• East Side Union High School District;
• District 8 Community Round Table; and,
• My Project Youth Connect.

• Bus Trip Photo Gallery
  ...more

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