Tim Foley is optimistic about the present and future. As county
superintendent of schools, Foley oversees the County Office of
Education as well as the county’s 11 school districts. He is
serving his third term of the elected position.
The office of education is in charge of Pinnacles Community
School, San Andreas Continuation High School, Santa Ana Opportunity
School and the San Benito County Juvenile Court School and oversees
11 school districts, eight of them one-school districts.
Tim Foley is optimistic about the present and future. As county superintendent of schools, Foley oversees the County Office of Education as well as the county’s 11 school districts. He is serving his third term of the elected position.
The office of education is in charge of Pinnacles Community School, San Andreas Continuation High School, Santa Ana Opportunity School and the San Benito County Juvenile Court School and oversees 11 school districts, eight of them one-school districts.
Despite the challenges faced by schools with the state’s budget problems and the county’s declining school enrollment, Foley said he is optimistic about local schools, the future of public education and education in general.
Free Lance: What are the biggest issues in education right now?
Tim Foley: No. 1 and most immediately of course is the fiscal crisis state in the state of California. We have been somewhat isolated in that situation because (education’s) a priority of all the legislators and the governor. But, inevitably, there will be cuts and continuing cuts in education.
Beyond that, our priority has to be to keep up with the programs of the California State Standards and vigorous assessments and professional training and development at a time when cutbacks loom.
FL: What are some of the biggest issues for schools in San Benito County right now?
TF: It’s a reflection of what’s happening up and down the state. This office (the County Office of Education) is working with the districts in the development of their budgets to make sure the districts remain solvent in the present and the near future. It’s a delicate balancing act.
San Benito County, with the moratorium on, is for the first time in a state of static or declining enrollment and our moneys are tied to enrollment … The districts all have a program of attendance recovery. Certainly, we’re working with all the parents to encourage regular attendance. First of all, you’re not learning if you’re not present, and second of all, we’ve already spent the money, so show up so that you’ll be covered.
FL: What is your opinion on Gov. Schwarzenegger in regards to his education policy?
TF: I am very excited by his ability to break the log jam. In fact, he’s using certainly non-conventional methods and it’s no longer business as usual. He professes to be a strong proponent of education. We’ll see how that shakes out. He has promised no cuts to education. I think that’s going to be a hard one to carry out …
FL: What are some of the things that schools in San Benito County do well?
TF: The schools of this county reach out to all of our students. There are educational options that can work for every student. Kids by and large don’t have to fall through the cracks before help is available … I think it’s significant that a child living in Hollister can go to a California Distinguished School from kindergarten through 12th grade. There are a lot of committed people here. Communities get the schools they deserve and we have some fine schools here. We have a great staff.
FL: What are some of the things schools in the county could improve on?
TF: Once again, San Benito County is reflecting generally what’s going on in the state – we are identifying and working on the areas of professional development and the implementation of program reform and program improvement. We’re really going in. We’ve done a good job of implementing the California State Standards here and now it’s modifying the programs to really make sure the world class standards are learned by our kids.
We continue to reach out to all of our families so that all the kids will come to school prepared. We’re talking about aggressive programs to bring kids in to kindergarten and all at an appropriate level of readiness. That’s an area that I am personally concerned with. We get kids that come in to kindergarten and they’re already two years behind … it’s a challenge to complete kindergarten being years behind. …
FL: How have the budget problems impacted schools in San Benito County and the services the schools deliver?
TF: Our own programs have been largely spared at the COE (County Office of Education) due to very, very tight controls and we have prioritized our list for future cuts … If it continues, then there’ll be further reductions in programs as far away from classes as we can get. And I think that’s the commitment on the part of all the districts in the county … It’s careful management.
FL: How do you stay connected with the students?
TF: Well, I live with one (referring to his daughter). I still love to go out and visit our programs and getting into the classrooms. That is one of the points of being superintendent, one of the things I miss the most, is the interaction with kids. I did not go to school to be a teacher to spend as much time on insurance as I do on curriculum, but that’s the nature of the job and it’s very important. I take real pleasure in dealing with the things we can support such as the science fair, my personal favorite, the spelling bee, going out and helping with the ag day at Bolado Park and things like that. I love visiting with students. I love going out to the rural schools – I get out there as often as I can and spend time with them. But I definitely miss the interaction …
FL: Why did you go into education?
TF: I didn’t know I wanted to. When I was in college, I had a friend who was working at Patton State Hospital (in San Bernardino) and I started doing volunteer work in her classroom. I was offered a summer job as an instructional aid and enjoyed that and then I was offered a part-time teaching position during the year that I was getting my master’s degree (in speech pathology) so I did that. So that lead to job offers that I experienced in special education. … Twenty years later and all of a sudden you realize you’re a teacher. I didn’t have a plan for it. Making myself available to the opportunities I think has lead to success for me.
FL: What does the future of public education look like?
TF: I’m very optimistic about it. Public education, particularly in California, we’re going to see continuing and increasing diversity, so this office will continue to work with professional development in teaching teachers how to teach all of the kids.
We’re going to see more options, more educational options. We have, in this community, very widespread homeschooling. San Benito High School is now offering an independent study program working with homeschooling families …
We’re going to see a contented collaboration with charter schools and our public schools. In this office, we’ll be increasingly involved with the oversight of charter schools …
There will be an expanding breadth of educational options within public schools – there will be schools within schools within this county.
I think that there will be, in this county, a continued appreciation of the differences between the districts. We hear people talking about unifying all the districts into one educational institution. I think that probably when people look at it, they’ll want to maintain the individual identity of the educational institutions that reflect the local community.
