None of county Superintendent of Schools Jon Gundry’s secret contracts and subsequent under-sight reaches the level of the latest bad deal.
Tag Archives: Xavier De La Torre
SCCOE Hides Supe’s Contracts, Violates Public Records Act
A child porn and abuse scandal—as well as public scrutiny on how the county schools chief spends taxpayer dollars behind closed doors—has sent the Santa Clara County Office of Education into lockdown mode. The stonewalling includes violations of the Public Records Act.
Emails Show Office of Education Committed to Obfuscation
Internal emails for top Santa Clara County Office of Education administrators provide a rare glimpse into an insulated power structure that attempts to control the message at all times, delays the delivery of information when possible and spins uncomfortable facts into purple public relations prose.
County Office of Ed Dysfunction Leaves Foster Youth in the Lurch
San Jose Inside has learned that the Santa Clara County Office of Education cut tutoring services for foster youth and filed questionable federal grant reports while wasting more than a half-million dollars that could have helped the county’s most needy children.
County Office of Education Names Interim Superintendent
A month after Superintendent Xavier De La Torre announced his resignation on less-than-ideal terms, the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) has named his successor.
Xavier De La Torre Leaving Post as County Superintendent of Education
After a rocky year-and-a-half on the job, it appears Santa Clara County Office of Education Superintendent Xavier De La Torre will be heading back to Texas for a job as superintendent of a smaller school district. San Jose Inside reported more than three months ago that De La Torre was on the brink of being fired or resigning after a series of dustups with staff, a dissatisfactory performance review and concerns about a cheating scandal.
Morgan Hill Schoolchildren Lose in Battle against Charter Schools
The Santa Clara County Office of Education and its Board of Education have been working to address education inequality through a myriad of measures, including the authorization of high quality charter schools. For this reason, I am troubled and angry about what happened at a seven-hour meeting last week.
County Superintendent’s Former Admins Cleared of Wrongdoing in Testing Scandal
School administrators in El Paso, Texas—and by extension Santa Clara County Superintendent Xavier De La Torre—were cleared of any wrongdoing in falsifying test scores as well as changing students’ grade levels to sidestep accountability measures, according to an El Paso Times report.
Office of Education in Turmoil as Board Considers Sending Superintendent Packing
Dr. Xavier De La Torre provides guidance and oversees the work of 31 school districts, 17,000 teachers and 280,000 students under the umbrella of the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE). In his role as county superintendent of education, he also leads an office of about 1,800 employees. But in just a little more than a year and a half on the job, De La Torre is facing the very real prospect of being fired or asked to resign.
Charter School Wars Heat Up; Can Cooler Heads Prevail?
The Santa Clara County Office of Education hosted a special meeting Saturday for a charter school study workshop. Approximately, 50 community leaders, elected school board members and parents participated in a discussion on the role of charters and traditional public schools in meeting student academic needs. Even though all those who spoke appeared to have the right intentions, eliminating the achievement gap is a divisive issue.