A comprehensive plan must be developed to chart the best course for the ever-expanding charter school movement—before it is too late. Like urban sprawl, the unplanned process will be disastrous. I believe there is still time for a win for our students, a win for the teachers and a win for our region.

P911. Our schools are OOT. Our classes once had PANS, but today kids are BTD. If you can decipher that, you are probably under 25. More importantly, this new lexicon is the wave of the future and few in education understand where it is leading the next generation.

Outraged! Angry! These two emotions were prevalent last week after Mercury News reporter Sharon Noguchi broke the story that former county superintendent Dr. Chalres Weis wants the county to take back a condo the Board of Education loaned him money to buy in 2008. It is conceivable that this loan might cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yet, as I said last week, I feel strongly that “the primary interest in this matter is to guard the financial interests of the taxpayer, and the fiscal integrity of the organization.”

What does the Chicago teacher strike and standoff with the city’s Mayor, Rahm Emanuel, portend for the future of public education? Could a teachers’ strike be in San Jose’s future? Let’s examine the facts as they relate to this struggle for improving public schools.

Schools are in sessions, the last days of summer are finally upon San Jose, and all is seemingly quiet after what was one of the most heated few months that the city has known for some time. It seems that the gang violence this summer touched far too many people. Blame is a powerful emotion, but it is not what San Jose needs right now.

President Barack Obama’s “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA) program, a policy enacted in June that allows illegal immigrants who arrived in the United States as children to obtain a work permit, a valid Social Security number and a contingent promise of deferred action with regard to deportation. DACA does not provide a path to lawful permanent resident status, U.S. citizenship or legal immigration status. But, perhaps unintentionally, a new study from Stanford suggests that DACA could result in drops in crime nationwide.

Are we truly our brothers and sisters keepers? Or, does self-interest trump what is best for the common good? These questions will need to be answered in the Nov. 6 election. The way I see it, a “yes” vote on Proposition 30 and Measure D, the increase of minimum wage in San Jose to $10 per hour, will be for the best interest of all our citizens.

As the county Board of Education looks into authorizing a zoning exemption for a new Rocketship School (#8) on Lick Ave. off of Alma, by the Tamien light rail station, we are at a new day with a more reflective conversation. This issue comes up tomorrow night on the board agenda.

Enrique Flores is the founder of Eastside Heroes, a mentoring non-profit, director of the Corozon Project in East San Jose, and a policy aide for Supervisor Dave Cortese.—Editor

In just 10 days this August, seven of our San Jose residents were killed, and five more are recovering from gun shot wounds. Some call this a “spike” in violence, I call it “The Start of the Second War.”

After filing papers to run for a second four-year term for my County Board of Education Trustee seat, I learned on the Aug. 10 deadline that no one filed papers to run against me. Therefore, I am automatically re-elected. This is a great and unexpected result, but one that is not so good for providing me a campaign forum to raise some of the most critical issues of our time.

Hold on to your wallets, kids! Ex’pression College for Digital Arts, a for-profit college, is opening up a new campus in San Jose in September 2012. According to the San Jose Business Journal, the school is leasing 65,000 square feet of office space in Ridder Park Technology Center in North San Jose. The group plans to spend $3 million to rehabilitate the space and will serve up to 550 students. Their main bay area campus, serving 650 students, is located in Emeryville.

I have stated consistently and unequivocally when writing this weekly column the last four years that we must end teacher tenure laws as we know them. Ending California’s current tenure laws will be for the sake of the students and the health of the teaching profession as a whole. As a former teacher union leader 30 years ago, I was an advocate for tenure rights after my third successful year of teaching. My views have evolved.

The general public has become more interested in sewers with the connection to keeping our environment clean. I believe individuals may choose a previously overlooked vocation in the sewer system once they understand the salary and job security. However, this will not change in weeks or months; it will most likely take time to garner the skill set for senior positions with the city.

Last Wednesday, the SCCOE Board of Trustees postponed a vote on exempting two new Rocketship Education schools from city zoning requirements. The item was continued to Tuesday, Aug, 14. I am not certain how I will vote tomorrow. My decision will be based on what I hear from the speakers and my colleagues. If for one nanosecond I believe this is another move to obstruct the decision in December made by the SCCOE board, I will vote to approve the resolution to exempt the zoning requirements. Rocketship is attempting to do Herculean work on behalf of building a system of 29 charter schools that provides a longer school day, blended learning, home visits by teachers and high academic expectations for all its students. The competition to the traditional public school system should be welcomed by our community, not scorned.

San Jose State can’t even claim to be a commuter school anymore. A news release sent out by the university last week announced it won’t accept new students from California for the Spring 2013 semester—but SJSU will allow students to apply from outside the state and country to reel in extra tuition fees.

This week I will turn in my candidate papers and $3,500 to the Registrar of Voters for a ballot statement for my Trustee Area No. 4 seat on the Santa Clara County Board of Education. It has been a privilege to serve the education community, its students and teachers as a board member these past four years. San Jose Inside has allowed me a forum to present and discuss the leading educational issues of our valley. There is much good work to do in the next four years, and I would like to be a voice at the political and policy table.