Three cheers for Quan

Jay Share, whose Letter to the Editor ran in the Jan. 11 Montclarion, should check his facts first. Not only did he mix up City Council candidate and current school board member Jean Quan with former schools Superintendent Carole Quan, but his allegations about Jean Quan's support of renovations to our schools are incorrect. No other school board member has been as ardent an advocate for improving the safety and infrastructure of our school facilities than Jean Quan.

It was Jean Quan who convinced the state to change its regulations and allow urban school districts like Oakland to tap into state modernization funds.

It was Jean Quan who helped institute a local developer fee so that the Oakland Unified School District would meet state regulations in order to access these modernization funds.

It was Jean Quan who led the highly successful 1994 Measure C school bond campaign for $170 million -- then the highest local school bond effort in the state's history.

Not only did Oaklanders pass the bond measure the very first time it was on the ballot (other districts found they had to run two or three campaigns before school bond measures passed), but they did so with 85 percent of the vote. Since then, Oakland has leveraged these funds and spent more than $300 million (to date) to fix up 90-plus schools in the district. And, for the first time in 30 years, Oakland has built several new schools to serve the 54,000 students enrolled in our schools.

As former co-chairs of the Friends of Oakland Public Schools, we have worked closely with Jean Quan to exceed the two-third's majority needed to win not only the 1994 Measure C campaign, but also the Measure A school bond campaign of 2000 and the two successful Measure B school parcel tax campaigns (1996 and 2001).

Jean Quan's 11-year record of proven leadership on behalf of Oakland and its students is unparalleled.

Sue Piper

Gene Zahas

Past chairs, Friends of Oakland Public Schools

Quan mix ups

I am responding to the letter captioned "Quan's history." Unfortunately, the letter's author has his Quans mixed up. The interview he mentions was given by Carole Quan, who at that time was the Oakland schools Superintendent -- same last name, different person, not related. I am surprised that the Montclarion didn't catch this grievous error.

I'm also confused about the letter's assertion that millions were spent on district headquarters upgrades. I have followed Oakland school issues closely for many years and cannot find any information about this alleged incident.

The last thing Jean Quan should ever be accused of is fiscal irresponsibility. When Jean came onto the Oakland Board of Education, the school district was on the verge of bankruptcy, and corruption was systemic.

The district now has a triple-A bond rating. Thanks largely to Jean's leadership of bond measure campaigns, every school has repair and renovation projects either completed or underway to counteract decades of post-Prop 13 maintenance neglect. Music programs have been restored throughout the district.

And despite the ups and downs of the state budget, the district is financially solvent.

The letter's accusation of a flippant attitude toward money certainly does not apply to Jean. More Quan confusion? Jean's accomplishments are those of someone who understands how to squeeze the most out of available resources and require accountability of those who spend public funds. I believe she'll perform this role equally well for city programs as a City Council member.

Peggy Lowndes

Oakland

Stick to the truth

Jay Share's opinions of Jean Quan, as printed on Jan. 11 are distortions.

This is the true story of Jean Quan: Jean was on the Oakland school district board for 11 years. She worked very hard and received little compensation.

Now, the Oakland school system is no longer near bankruptcy. There is a standardized reading program. Test scores are improving. The number of uncredentialed teachers is dropping. Labor-management problems have been reduced. Teacher salaries have increased. Maintenance problems are being addressed. The budget stays balanced.

Dennis Chaconas, superintendent of Oakland schools, has stated publicly that, "Jean has been at the heart of every major reform in the school district. She helped cut school bureaucracy to put the district on A+ financial standing. She is the reason I came back to Oakland."

I urge all candidates running for the City Council District 4 election not to throw mud at each other. Run for office based on your public service records. We all know that mud sticks to just about everything, and it makes things dirty.

Nicholas J. Vigilante, III

Oakland