The Santa Clara County Board of Education is rushing the process to select a replacement for board member Rosemary Kamei, who has been elected to the San Jose City Council At the Santa Clara County Board of Education meeting Nov. 2, my fellow board members chose to hurry a critical decision. It’s an unnecessarily rushed move — and one that doesn’t allow for a fully inclusive recruiting and application process.
Ortiz, in describing his reasons for supporting the compressed schedule during the Nov. 2 meeting, said those paying attention should be aware of Kamei’s election and expecting an appointment. “Those are the individuals who I feel we would want on this board, individuals who are paying attention to the business of the board, those who are experienced in education policy, and individuals who have already been introduced to the work of this board.
In less than two weeks, are we to expect that the position has been so well-advertised in local media that all interested candidates from a diverse community of different socioeconomic, cultural and lived experiences have a reasonable amount of time to complete and submit an application and that this board has thoroughly and rigorously vetted the applicants? Of course not.