An educational task force led by Santa Clara County Office of Education Superintendent Colleen Wilcox is trying to put a countywide parcel-tax-increase measure on the November ballot. And both the Fremont High Union School District and the Cupertino Union School District are considering whether they want to join the countywide measure or have a similar measure for themselves.

"We will be following what the county is doing. But we are not sure what will come out from the county. In the end, we have to look out for our own district," said Jeremy Nishihara, communications manager for the Cupertino Union School District.

Officials from the high school district said the school board and superintendent haven't formally discussed putting a measure on the ballot themselves, although they won't rule out the possibility.

"The key to the [county] proposal is local control. A high percentage of the parcel tax collected from the district will stay in the district," said Dennis Cima, communication director of the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group. The group is one major member of the Blue Ribbon Task Force formed in 2002 to improve Silicon Valley's public education system.

"The challenge for the county's 33 educational entities is how this countywide proposal matches what they want to do in their districts, especially in uncertain economic times," Cima added.

Although the measure is still at the planning stage, the task force plans to use the parcel-tax funds in retaining and recruiting teachers, improving students' reading ability and helping the lowest performing schools.

"A large portion of the money will be used to increase teachers' salaries and help uncredentialed teachers get their credentials," Cima said.

The task force is considering imposing $95 to $195 per parcel annually for eight years. If voters pass the measure, an independent citizens accountability committee will review and report fiscal audits annually and issue a biannual report on reading scores and the number of credentialed teachers.

The Blue Ribbon Task Force has conducted two opinion polls and will conduct another in April. If the poll results indicate a strong support for a countywide parcel tax, the task force will draft the measure and present it to the school boards and county office of education for review and comments in May.

"The biggest myth about this proposal is that this will solve all the problems in any district," Cima said. "This doesn't propose to do that, but it is taking the right direction to achieve that at a local level."