October 30, 2006
Daily Review Publishes Letters Supportive of my Candidacy
The Sunday, October 29, 2006, edition of the Daily Review featured two very supportive letters from Tim Felton and San Leandro High School librarian Roxanne Ansolabehere.
United Parents Express Support Measure B
It should come as no surprise that parents of students at San Leandro High School support Measure B, the $109 million school facilities bond that will appear on the November 7 ballot. United Parents sent a letter to the Daily Review and San Leandro Times stating that "Measure B is a timely opportunity to relieve the overcrowding at the high school."
October 29, 2006
Roosevelt Elementary Begins Breakfast Program
On Friday, October 27, 2006, Roosevelt Elementary became the last of San Leandro's elementary schools to offer a breakfast program to its students. Mayor Shelia Young and City Council Members OB Badger and Tony Santos joined me as we sampled the assortment of breakfast foods available to students. Superintendent Christine Lim, Roosevelt Principal Susan Guerrero, and Maintenance & Construction Supervisor Greg Dyer were among the school personnel who were also on hand to commemorate the start of the breakfast program.
Some of the breakfast foods available included fresh grapes, packaged apple slices, Kikkoman Pearl soy milk, Upstate Farms onfat yogurt, whole grain breads, peanut butter, packaged peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, V8 V-Fusion drinks, Pepperidge Farms baked crackers and graham crackers, Azar Carnival Crunch, whole grain sausage rolls, and packaged muffins.
The children who sampled the breakfast foods were also thrilled by a visit from a person in a "Tony the Tiger" costume.
The breakast and lunch programs at San Leandro's schools are funded largely by the federal government. At some schools, participation in the free and reduced lunch program exceeds 50% while participation in the freee and reduced breakfast program is closer to 20%. One of my goals as member of the School Board will be to increase participation in the free and reduced breakfast program. No child at San Leandro schools should go hungry.
Official opening of new adult school
On Thursday, October 26, 2006, the new San Leandro Adult School at 1448 Williams Street officially opened. The school consists of two buildings just west of John Muir Middle School. Chabot College and the Head Start program are partners with the San Leandro Unified School District in the construction and use of the new facility. There is already a waiting list for some classes, perhaps because free childcare is offered. Free preschool is also offered for low-income students in English as a second language (ESL) or high school diploma classes.
I was honored to meet Principal Susanne Wong and tour the new facility. It's important to note that funding for the adult school is separate from funding for the elementary, middle, and high schools.
Click here for San Leandro Times coverage.
October 25, 2006
Letters to the editor to the San Leandro Times
Calls School Board Candidate Katz ‘Aware and Informed’
By : Diana Prola : 10/20/06
Voters often become frustrated when they don’t know either candidate in a race. This past summer I met and got to know Mike Katz, a candidate for the San Leandro School Board. He is a pleasant, educated, concerned and sincere citizen, who will make a great addition to the Board.
He is aware and informed about current issues and makes it a practice to attend School Board meetings quite often. I think his best qualification, however, is that he is the father of two preschoolers. This is a great motivator for him to put in effort to improve our schools.
—Diana Prola
San Leandro
Says Katz Has ‘Greater Understanding of the Issues’
By : Sabrina Ramirez : 10/20/06
I would like to correct some misinformation that appeared in the San Leandro Times on Oct. 12.
You wrote that the San Leandro Teachers’ Association has endorsed Peter Lismer for School Board. The fact is that the SLTA co-endorsed both Lismer and his opponent, Mike Katz.
A “co-endorsement” from the Association means that as an interested group, the teachers have no objection to either candidate and that members may individually endorse and support either without concern.
Individually, I have chosen personally to support Mike Katz, because he seems to have a greater understanding of the issues facing our schools today and will bring new ideas to the School Board. But the Teachers’ Association, as a group, recognizes that either candidate would be acceptable.
—Sabrina Ramirez
President, SLTA
Daily Review endorses Measure B
In an op-ed published on October 20, 2006, the Daily Review endorsed Measure B, the $109 million school facilities bond that appears on the November ballot.
I'm proud to note that I attended the School Board meetings and community forums where the formation of the school facilities bond took place. I spoke out in favor of increasing the proposed capacity of the Freshman campus from 700 to 800 even though the School District's demographic projections showed that 700 should be sufficient. The closure and sale of Pacific High School were based in part on demographic projections and I wanted to make sure that we didn't make the same mistake this time and end up needing to add portables when the Freshman campus opens.
In addition to the Freshman campus, Measure B will fund the construction of a performing arts center at San Leandro High School with a 450-seat theater, expand the library at San Leandro High School, refurish the vocational classrooms at San Leandro High School, replace roofs and bathrooms, and provide much needed modernizations and improvements at all of the schools. The School District also stands a very good chance of obtaining matching funds if Proposition 1D, the state school facilities bond, passes on November 7, 2006.
October 24, 2006
Our team makes it to the final round of the Trivia Bee
Project Literacy's 13th Annual Trivia Bee was held on Friday, October 20, 2006, at the Marina Community Center. The Trivia Bee is Project Literacy's biggest fundraiser and brings in about $15,000.
As I have done for the past four or five years, I sponsored a team that included myself, Ethan Klos, and Diana Prola. There were 30 other teams. Typically, 10 teams are eliminated after the first round of 30 questions and another 10 teams are eliminated after the second round of 20 questions.
I am proud to say that our team made it past the first and second rounds. In the past two years, we tied for fourth, but this year we tied for fifth or sixth.
Other political teams were fielded by City Council candidates Diana Souza and Julian Polvorosa. Polvorosa's team ended up finishing third with the Alameda County Firefighters taking first place and the Friends of the Library team taking second.
October 17, 2006
Trivia Bee
Once again, it's time for the annual Project Literacy Trivia Bee. Like every year, Mike will be there with his team. Please come and cheer him on to victory!
Great Fundraiser
Thanks to everyone who came to the fundraiser on Oct. 12th. It was very successful and we appreciate both your help and your confidence in the campaign. We are well on our way to achieving our fundraising goal, but we are still not there yet, so we urge you to keep those contributions coming in!
In other news, you will note that Mike will not appear on any slates that you receive in the mail, save for the official Democratic Party slate. This is because most slates will include anyone who pays for them. For example, a recent slate included Democratic nominee Ellen Corbett together with Republican nominee Jill Buck. Mike finds that unethical. Keep your eyes open for our literature, however, which you should get (or have already received) in the mail.
October 12, 2006
Profile in San Leandro Times
The October 12, 2006, issue of the San Leandro Times featured a profile of my candidacy for the San Leandro School Board. Other press coverage of the race includes the forum at the San Leandro Chamber luncheon and a profile in the Daily Review.
October 6, 2006
Chamber Candidate Forum
On Thursday, October 5, 2006, the San Leandro Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon featured a forum with three of the candidates vying for a seat on the San Leandro School Board: Pauline Cutter, me (Mike Katz), and my opponent. The Daily Review article doesn't really do justice to the contrast between myself and my opponent. It was quite obvious that I was more informed about school issues, and not just because I've been attending School Board meetings for the past year.
Unfortunately, the Daily Review article spent more time discussing Pauline's opponent Vera Ayres and the issue of whether Ms. Ayres has threatened Chamber employees or Mayor Shelia Young.
There were lots of good questions from the audience, but the one that got press coverage was about creationism, so let's be clear: creationism is not science. It is a belief and any discussion about creationism belongs in classes where different belief systems are discussed and not in a science class.