Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Chau Vuong
(650) 450-5400
San Jose, CA - The 2022 election season presents a renewed opportunity to focus on children’s issues. In an effort to help voters understand funding and policy decisions that impact children's lives, Kids in Common, Strong Start, Choose Children, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, and the Santa Clara County Office of Education have teamed up to launch an online Voter’s Guide on Children's Issues at
www.sccvoteforkids.org.
“The success of our county depends on building a future where children are healthy, safe, and ready to succeed in school and life,” said County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Mary Ann Dewan. “The Voter’s Guide provides a platform for voters to hear directly from candidates for elected office at all levels about their views on children’s issues.”
The Voter’s Guide on Children's Issues was created in 2004 to ensure that the needs of children are addressed during the general election season, just like other top-tier issues. Policy and funding decisions made during our elected officials’ next term of office will have consequences for years and generations into the future. For several consecutive years, Santa Clara County has experienced a decline in its population of children and lower school enrollment, even while the county’s overall general population has increased. The high costs of living, housing, and child care place pressures on families with children that make Santa Clara County a challenging place for many families to live. The Voter’s Guide gives candidates an opportunity to discuss how they would address these challenges.
“The economic vibrancy of Silicon Valley relies on our region becoming a place where families with children can live and thrive,” said Christine Thorsteinson, Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s Director of Early Childhood Development. “The Voter’s Guide helps ensure that candidates for office at every level address issues important to children and that voters have easy access to the candidate’s views on important issues when they cast their ballots.”
This Voter's Guide is informational only and no endorsement of any candidate is intended. Candidates seeking select local and state offices in Santa Clara County were asked questions about their broad priorities for children, childcare affordability and availability, student achievement and the opportunity gap, children with special needs, and supports for children’s mental and behavioral health. Candidates were given several weeks to respond to the survey. The responses are in their words and are unedited. Although the partnership attempted to contact every candidate, it did not receive responses from every candidate for elected offices.
###
About the Santa Clara County Office of Education
Working collaboratively with school and community partners, the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) is a regional service agency that provides instructional, business, and technology services to the 31 school districts of Santa Clara County. The County Office of Education directly serves students through special education programs, alternative schools, Head Start and State Preschool programs, migrant education, and Opportunity Youth Academy. The SCCOE also provides academic and fiscal oversight and monitoring to districts in addition to the 22 Santa Clara County Board of Education authorized charter schools.