I recently had the good fortune to observe a conference on collaborative international partnerships for higher education in Afghanistan. The restoration of higher education is key to rebuilding the war-ravaged nation.

Two years ago I wrote an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg, asking him to consider supporting public education by giving money closer to home. His latest pledge appears to answer that request.

It has now been 60 years since the U.S. Supreme Court made a landmark decision to provide education equity for all children. But race and income still too often dictate the quality of the educational experience. These issues apply in our 31 school districts in Santa Clara County.

In front of more than 150 people Saturday at the Mexican Heritage Plaza, San Jose mayoral candidates gave their thoughts on why the next mayor has an integral role to play in leading public education efforts.

Two new initiatives we’re working on at the Santa Clara County Office of Education have the potential to be a model for how public agencies cooperate together to streamline and improve the delivery of important services to students.

This Saturday at 10am the county Board of Education will co-sponsor a mayoral forum on public education. When you examine the list of critical issues San Jose's next mayor will have to confront—public safety, transportation, affordable housing, libraries, etc.—nearly all relate to our children's education.

Our public education system is a disaster. It is not the teachers, students or even the curriculum. It is the SYSTEM. We need a new innovative approach that utilizes 21st century tools to keep our students competitive.

The charter school world got body slammed once again at the National School Boards Conference.

Every middle and high school student in San Jose should be required to see and discuss the film 'Cesar Chavez: An American Hero.' His story still resonates with today's struggle for education reform.

Gov. Jerry Brown, in his first stint in Sacramento, was a bold and courageous leader. But today, the 75-year-old Brown refuses to support a cost-effective intervention of the achievement gap. Continuing down the path we’re on is suicide.

So many of the higher paying jobs in our valley involve some aspect of computing and programming. A story in the Mercury News this past weekend highlighted the issue of access to technology by gender.

On Wednesday, the county Board of Education agreed to participate in a mayoral candidate forum on education. Educate Our State invited the Board be a partner, and the data show a thoughtful discussion is needed. Nineteen of the thirty-one districts in the county are located in San Jose, and nearly 50 percent of San Jose’s public school students test below grade level in math and English.

After a rocky year-and-a-half on the job, it appears Santa Clara County Office of Education Superintendent Xavier De La Torre will be heading back to Texas for a job as superintendent of a smaller school district. San Jose Inside reported more than three months ago that De La Torre was on the brink of being fired or resigning after a series of dustups with staff, a dissatisfactory performance review and concerns about a cheating scandal.

I participated in last week’s 2014 State of the Valley conference at the Santa Clara Convention Center. One speaker referred to FDR’s concept of “bold, persistent experimentation.” It made me consider how we’ve been addressing our county’s education system, and a recent lawsuit that filed against the county Board of Education.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” That is the mentality of most large bureaucratic institutions, and San Jose State University is no different.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation granted $100,000 to Franklin McKinley School District to fund startup costs to promote collaboration between the traditional public school district and all its charter schools. The possibility that this seed money can lead to a much larger piece of the Gates Foundation Collaborative Compact financial pie is real, and predicated on the effort and results of the start-up phase. Santa Clara County Board of Education Trustee Joseph DiSalvo says that in order to radically impact student achievement and graduation rates in San Jose, especially for students of color and those living in poverty, we must work with all publicly-funded partners to reach new heights of high achievement for all. Too many efforts and public dollars are going into litigation in the old toxic model of competition between districts and charters.