Fresno voters head to polls in this major local education race. How to cast your vote
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Happy Monday, Fresno Bee readers! It’s Ed Lab engagement reporter Lasherica.
It’s election week here in Fresno for local positions such as sheriff, district attorney, city council, and congressional seats for the state.
There’s one race in particular that I’m eyeing closely: the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools.
The county superintendent’s office has 1,500 employees, a $359 million budget, and operates programs and services for 205,500 Fresno County students across 32 school districts — the districts that your children attend.
It’s the county superintendent who ensures districts are fiscally responsible and following state and federal laws. Retiring after this term, Jim Yovino has held the title since his 2013 appointment. He was elected a year later and re-elected in 2018.
Even with those responsibilities, the county superintendent has no say over the districts it oversees.
Each of the three candidates seeking the seat said the office is influential.
Candidate Michele Cantwell-Copher, the current assistant superintendent in charge of educational leadership and development for the superintendent’s office under Yovino, said that lack of authority shouldn’t be confused with a lack of influence over each level of education from the classroom to the school board.
The governor visits the 58 county superintendents because “it’s a more efficient way” to hear from the 1,025 superintendents across California, she said.
“If I didn’t think I could impact change as the future Fresno County Superintendent of Schools to improve the lives of children and families in Fresno County, I wouldn’t sign up for the job,” Cantwell-Copher said.
Candidate Eliseo Gamino is a Raisin City Elementary dual-immersion teacher, Firebaugh-Las Deltas School District board member, and 2021 Teacher of the Year nominee.
To Gamino, the county superintendent’s office sets the climate for other districts.
“We need to make sure we’re out there, we’re listening, and we find out the challenges,” Gamino said about the need to consistently address issues that districts face. “We need to show leadership, and we need to make sure that every kid has a chance to learn equally.”
Candidate Darren Miller has worked in education for 30 years, including in Clovis, Fresno, Washington, Madera, Fresno City College, and on the Fresno County School Board, and said that the job is not only about influence but how the person uses it.
The best way to use that influence is by understanding the role of that influence, which he said he learned as a school board member, and by being present.
“You can’t use your influence from your office or your Zoom,” Miller said. “You have to be present. That’s what I believe the role of the county superintendent is: being present in all 32 school districts and developing relationships within those school districts to move education in the right direction.”
Now it’s up to voters to pick between Cantwell-Copher, Gamino, or Miller.
So here’s the voting information you’ll need to know:
Ballots, which would’ve been mailed to registered voters, can be dropped off in dropboxes throughout the county
In-person voting centers will be open for voters who want to vote in person, need assistance, want to vote on an accessible tablet, need to obtain a replacement ballot, need language assistance, need to register, or any other reason.
Vote centers hours are 9 am to 5 pm, except on Election Day on Wednesday when they will be 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Here’s the latest from The Bee’s Education Lab
Fresno-area school fired two superintendents this year. ‘Our little school – it needs help’
Teachers and parents at West Park Elementary School District in Fresno County say their small school is falling apart following a tough year that saw dozens of teachers and staff leave — and two superintendents fired just months apart.
Fresno teacher says she doesn’t feel safe at school as campus security debate intensifies
Parents and teachers have spoken out in recent weeks, demanding safety and security improvements in Fresno schools.
Fresno’s Central Unified school board will consider changing two school names, one mascot
Three schools are facing possible changes after a meeting where over three dozen community members spoke with most supporting and advocating for a change.
MORE FRESNO-AREA EDUCATION NEWS
Madera Community College is receiving a $2.1 million grant over the next five years to help students in migrant families, according to a media release.
The grant, known as College Assistance Migrant Program or CAMP, helps students in migrant or seasonal farm working families with their first year of college by providing academic, personal and financial support through programs that help in the transition, college and career counseling, tutoring, educational or developmental workshops, stipends and referrals for support services, a media release said.
The program is accepting applications for the fall 2022 cohort, which will do a two-week Summer Bridge program this summer.
To qualify, students must: be a first-time MCC student; be enrolled full-time for their first year at MCC; be a U.S. citizen or Permanent Resident; been part of the migrant program anytime from K-12, or be the student or have a parent(s) or guardian who worked at least 75 days within the past 2 years in agriculture-related work.
For more information, visit the website.
“The ability to engage, mentor and validate our students’ lived experiences will change our students’ trajectory and have a positive impact on our community,” said President Ángel Reyna.
The grant was awarded through the U.S. Department of Education’s migrant education office.
Fresno State communication and performance professor Devendra Sharma will return to his home country of India as a 2022-23 Fulbright Scholar, becoming the college’s third faculty member this year to do so.
He will research and document the swang-nautanki, a folk opera tradition in Northern India, and its traditional community performance groups, a media release detailed. The traditional folk opera has been a popular form of entertainment for hundreds of years, but is reportedly disappearing quickly from Indian culture.
“I feel that my research is important on a national and international level and that it is useful in drawing out bigger communication lessons that can be applied to varied multi-cultural places such as South Asia as well as the Central Valley of California, as it deals with the communicative potential of traditional performance arts,” Sharma said . “There are quite a few traditional arts in the Central Valley, and this Fulbright award will help me and Fresno State to contribute to the community around Fresno.”
With its Outdoor Equity Program, California State Parks awarded nearly $700,000 to the West Hills Community College District, one of 125 low-income urban and rural communities receiving grant money.
West Hills plans to create the Citizen & Undergraduate Science Project program with around 30 activity days for about 1,200 participants and approximately 20 trips to natural areas for 670 participants over four years and at no cost to those in the community, a media release said.
“This grant is a major win for our residents, students, and communities,” said Brian Boomer, District Director of Grants at West Hills Community College District. “As a district, our focus has always been on equitably providing educational opportunities. Many in our communities have not had the opportunity to experience California’s beaches, mountains, deserts, forests and parks.”
King Beach in North Lake Tahoe, Scorpion Anchorage Trail on Santa Cruz Island at Channel Islands National Park, Sequoia National Park, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Yosemite National Park and Crissy Field in San Francisco are among the planned trips.
California State Parks Director Armando Quintero said such programs turn parks into classrooms, including West Hills intentions to use the grant funds to provide opportunities for fun science projects in science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) while on the trips.
The program will be available starting the fall of 2022.
Want more education news? Here’s what we’ve been reading
Ashleigh’s List
Some California colleges find it hard to shift away from remedial courses “Despite a 2017 law meant to minimize lower-level math and English classes, some community colleges are resisting the change.” | Hechinger Report
Researchers looked at how early STEM stereotypes begin for kids. They found them every step of the way. “Early in elementary school, many children already believe that boys are more interested than girls in computer science and engineering.” | Hechinger Report
Lasherica’s List
Counselors not part of one California district’s plan to tackle student mental health
An elementary school district is adding social workers but eliminating all its counselors to address students’ mental health affected by 2019 wildfires in the area and a nearby school shooting and the COVID pandemic that started in 2020 but impacted the last three school years. | EdSource
Debate turns hot over UC proposal to set criteria for high school ethnic studies “University of California board rejects contested criteria for required high school course” | EdSource
Covid challenges, bad student behavior push teachers to limit, out the door “Covid challenges and student misbehavior push thousands of teachers to their limits and beyond.” | EdSource
That’s all for this week’s newsletter, but don’t forget you can share this with someone you know.
This story was originally published June 6, 2022 at 9:19 AM.
