On Oct. 11, Willow Glen residents crowded into the multi-purpose room at the Willow Glen United Methodist Church to listen to San Jose Unified School board candidates—Carol Myers and Pam Foley running to represent Willow Glen Schools in Trustee Area 3—bring their platforms to the public. Throughout the forum, the candidates repeatedly returned to—and disagreed on—several key but interrelated issues: desegregation funds, magnet programs and the option for parents to choose where to send their children to school.

At the beginning of the forum Foley immediately acknowledged that her daughter attends Hacienda, an science/environmental magnet school within the district, but outside the trustee area where she is running. Foley, however, said she does not see this as having an impact on her ability to effectively represent Willow Glen neighborhood schools.

"Where my daughter attends school has no effect on how I feel about Willow Glen schools," Foley said, adding that she and her husband were not pleased with the former principal at Schallenberger, her neighborhood school.

But the decision of parents like Foley to leave neighborhood schools is one of the cornerstones of Myers' platform. A strong proponent of neighborhood schools, Myers said that though she supports the right of parents to select schools, that choice should be applied sparingly.

"I support choice," she said. "But when we are losing 40 percent of neighborhood children, it becomes flight."

Myers added that instead of sending their children outside of the neighborhood, parents like her opponent should lobby to get comparable programs at Schallenberger, a direct reference to Foley's neighborhood school.

Foley also stated that she supported parents' ability to choose a school, and that "magnet schools, choice and strong neighborhood schools can co-exist." In response to Myers' suggestion that she and parents like her lobby for the schools rather than send their children elsewhere, Foley countered that many preschool parents don't realize how quickly teachers and principals move through the system.

The candidates also disagreed on the funding discrepancy between magnet schools—particularly Hacienda—and non-magnet schools. According to Foley, Hacienda and Willow Glen schools receive an equitable amount of desegregation money from the district, and the only extra money Hacienda receives for being a magnet school is the salary of one teacher. Foley also said she received her statistics directly from the district.

Declaring Foley's information inaccurate, Myers stated that even if the schools received an equal portion of desegregation funds, the money would be distributed unevenly among economically disadvantaged students—the students for whom desegregation money is intended to assist—because Willow Glen schools have a higher percentage of economically disadvantaged students than Hacienda. According to Myers, Willow Glen schools receive about $800 per economically disadvantaged student, while Hacienda receives $3,500. She also added that Foley's information was incorrect because the district "sanitizes its data."

But if there was one thing the candidates agreed upon, it was this: Willow Glen schools need to be made more attractive to neighborhood families. Myers said that the way to improve local schools was to allocate more funding, particularly to economically disadvantaged students, and to initiate distinct programs within the schools to bring in additional funding

Foley believes under her stewardship conditions at Willow Glen schools can improve. But she added, "It's not my vision, it's the schools' vision for themselves."

Foley said she would initiate a community discussion and help build a strategic plan.

"I will be the best advocate for whatever plan they come up with," she said. "We have to build ourselves and market ourselves."

The candidates were not the only people present at the meeting who care about ameliorating conditions at Willow Glen schools. Concerned community members were in attendance, like Willow Glen resident Ken Cato. wjp said he came to hear the perspectives of both school board candidates. The parent of a son who will soon be attending middle school, Cato expressed concerns about sending his child to a neighborhood school.

"I'm wondering why I should send my son to Willow Glen schools when I could send him to a different schools where they have science, music and sports programs," he said. "I'm wondering why that hasn't happened here. I would love to see him go to a Willow Glen school, but I don't see why he should."

Willow Glen resident Karen Strasilla said the forum allowed her to gain an understanding of both candidates' strengths. Although she's already decided how she will vote, coming to the forum gave her "a little more faith that either way, it's not hurting."

The mother of a Willow Glen Elementary School student, Strasilla said she believes the biggest issue facing neighborhood schools is funding for the economically disadvantaged students.

"Willow Glen has a high percentage of kids who are bussed in," she said. "They need money to support programs and support the kids."

And she added, "All the kids are wonderful. But I would like the schools to have more neighborhood kids so there is more parent participation."

Eric Carruthers, a resident of Willow Glen since 1966, believes that the issue of equitable funding within the school district is "terrifically important."

"Desegregation funding is supposed to fund disadvantaged students," he said. "It should be going to the schools that need it most."

One important issue that Carruthers would have liked the candidates to address pertained to nutrition education.

"I realize that funding is limited," he said. "But I think schools could do a better job of teaching nutrition."

Carruthers said attending the forum helped him decide which candidate was best qualified to represent Willow Glen schools.