The Cupertino Courier presents "A Time to Talk: A Cupertino Forum" on Saturday, Aug. 9, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. Jude's Church, at the corner of Stelling and McClellan roads.

Shawn Spano, who has worked with the Cupertino community since he and the Public Dialogue Consortium initiated a process for discussing community issues in 1996, will facilitate the forum. Members of the community are invited to participate in a candid discussion about changing demographics in Cupertino.

According to Spano: "Through our earlier work in Cupertino, a process has been developed to create a comfortable environment for people to express themselves. Our goal in this forum is to take the dialogue to the next level."

Superintendent asks for sacrifice, not for himself

It was with some amount of surprise that teachers read (Courier May 7) the news of the superintendent's new employment contract. This has been a year of real economic difficulty locally and statewide. Teachers in Cupertino are being asked to accept a cut in pay to make up for expected health benefits costs while the district believes itself to be in good financial health to give the superintendent an increase in pay.

While teachers will not see a cost of living adjustment passed through from the state, our superintendent will actually see portions of his salary increased beyond their current levels.

This could have been a wonderful opportunity for the superintendent to demonstrate unity with the rank and file in our district. Instead he has shown no empathy for the plight of other district employees.

The response from teachers could be stated in this way: "Why would the leader of our district ask all of us to sacrifice to help the district when he himself is unwilling to do so?" It is discomforting to note that three out of five board members consider the effect of the pay increase to be "insignificant" to the district and its employees. Other district employees are being asked to take a net "pay cut" to keep our budget in line—why should the rules be any different for the district's leader?

The Cupertino Education Association would like to thank those members of the board who spoke out against the superintendent's pay increase. As Ben Liao pointed out, "As the leader of the district, he should set an example for others in this difficult time by not proposing a higher pay." This could have been Dr. Bragg's moment to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the rest of the district's employees.

We can only hope that our work in the district will be valued as highly when we ask for a "raise."

—Executive Board and Membership, Cupertino Education Association

Importing students to raise funds hurts workers

This past year the Cupertino Union School District made money for itself by importing students from other districts. The state guarantees the district money for each student they teach, whether the student comes from the Cupertino Union School District or not. This was Dr. Bragg's recommendation to the board following the district contract negotiations last year.

In the contract negotiations, the district spoke of declining enrollments and got the unions to agree to unrealistically low caps on health and welfare expenses for this past year and the next.

Teachers and other school employees are now going to be paying the health and welfare benefits for the additional teachers the district has hired, not only to handle the imported students but for those hired to cover an increase in students.

In addition to reduced medical benefits and higher out of pocket costs for copays for visits to doctors and for medicines, district employees are faced with up to a four percent reduction in their pay this coming year to cover health and welfare expenses, while the district profits on imported students who will be taught by teachers whose health and welfare costs the district will not need to bear. The percentage reductions are highest for those with the lowest incomes.

I say bravo to Dr. Bragg; he certainly deserves this raise. It does not matter that cheating the teachers on health and welfare may injure relationships between the district and its workers; jobs are supposedly hard to find.

—Bill Hagerbaumer, Cupertino


City is microcosm of America with its diversity

In the past decade, the number of Asians in the Cupertino community has grown dramatically. The tension that has appeared is not surprising to me. As an Asian, I have experienced discrimination from many friends. I cannot blame anyone for this tension.

With an increase in Asian stores, markets and everything, many people may believe, hey this is America; it's not China. But, what I want to remind the community is that Asians ARE Americans. Whether we're Mexican, African American, Japanese, we are ALL Americans. We must take pride in this fact and realize that we can retain our cultural values but also must respect one another.

The fact that all this tension is coming out is just human nature. We need to take advantage of this opportunity in that there are so many different cultures in our community.

This is great news! We shouldn't resist the fact that there are a lot of ethnicities in our community. We must remember that we are all Americans! I am always excited to know more about each culture- Indian, Latino, English, whatever it may be. I believe as a community, we SHOULD be excited to learn more from one another.

At school, I see segregated "hang-out" spots and I feel that as students, we're only losing. Let us desire more to learn about where one another came from, why, and how. What's their work ethic, religion, and why have they chosen to live in Cupertino?

This is what makes Cupertino so unique. We have America right at our disposal, in our community. By desiring more to learn about one another, we're benefiting not only our future, but society as well. Hey, I admit I have my prejudices and I admit it's not right; it really isn't. But I want to try to explore other cultures and realize that, we are Americans and we should always remember that wonderful saying, "United We Stand."

—Kristina Lee, Monta Vista high School Senior