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The NOVA Workforce Board authorized staff to work with the City of San Jose and the City of Sunnyvale to attempt to implement ways in which the City of San Jose can contract with the City of Sunnyvale to provide administrative services in the Technology-to-Teaching initiative.  NOVA will ensure that safeguards are in place which minimize the City of Sunnyvale’s financial exposure, including the availability of funds to draw down against and a reimbursement rate that will cover expenses. 

Staff recommends that the Sunnyvale City Council concur with the NOVA Workforce Board to enter into contract negotiations with the City of San Jose for an amount not to exceed $350,000 to provide training contracts for up to 50 individuals.  Further, staff recommends authorization to contract with San Jose State University for an amount not to exceed $300,000 for the development of a teacher training program for program participants, which would serve the students from the San Jose Silicon Valley WIB.

Santa Clara County, the heart of Silicon Valley, has long been considered a technical hub due to the unusually high number of individuals working in the technology industry. But with the highly publicized proliferation of failing dot-coms, the massive corporate layoffs at tech giants such as Hewlett Packard, Sun Microsystems, Yahoo! and Cisco, and a local unemployment rate skyrocketing in the 7% range, laid-off technology workers are facing extraordinary challenges finding and keeping a job.   At the same time California as a whole, and Santa Clara County in particular, is facing a massive teacher shortage.  Growing enrollments and State mandated reduced class sizes have increased the demand for teachers.  Compounding this crisis, the pool of qualified teachers is rapidly shrinking.  In 2000-01, 15% (2,745) of Silicon Valley's public school teachers were not fully certified. In 6 of Silicon Valley's 46 regional school districts, 20% or more of the teaching staff lack full certification.  In addition, 30% of teachers will be retiring over the next ten years, so Santa Clara County will need 550 new teachers per year simply to maintain the already-lacking status quo. Retiring teachers will exacerbate the dilemma of teacher shortages, particularly among math and science teachers who are already in short supply.

Since receipt of the grant funds, the NOVA Workforce Investment Board and San Jose Silicon Valley Workforce Investment Board staffs have been working together to 
determine the best service strategy for the targeted customer in this training program - dislocated workers from technology fields.  Staffs have coordinated orientations, 
workshops and screening tools.  Staff has continually communicated ideas and worked through issues as we developed this training program.   

The NOVA and San Jose Silicon Valley WIB staffs have also been meeting jointly with 
San Jose State University staff to set up special cohort classes and sessions to benefit 
the students that will be referred to their education program.  Through these meetings it was suggested that one contracting and invoicing system be set up for ease of processing for San Jose State.  San Jose Silicon Valley WIB asked NOVA if they could take the lead in contracting.  Due to recent changes in administrative support in the San Jose WIB (departure of the director), their Board has asked NOVA to act as the contract agent with local area training providers.  The NOVA Workforce Board authorized staff to work with 
the City of San Jose and the City of Sunnyvale to attempt to implement ways in which 
the City of San Jose can contract with the City of Sunnyvale to provide administrative services in the Technology-to-Teaching initiative.  

NOVA will ensure that safeguards are in place which minimize the City of Sunnyvale’s financial exposure, including the availability of funds to draw down against and a reimbursement rate that will cover expenses.   NOVA staff would not be responsible for 
the recruitment nor case management of these students, only acting in the capacity as contract agent to the schools involved.   Both WIB’s program staffs have met to parallel processes and forms in this program to help ease future billing and invoicing options.   NOVA staff see this as an opportunity to provide better service to customers regionally 
and a good working relationship with San Jose State as a training provider.

1.       Public meeting of the NOVA Workforce Board Meeting on October 23, 2002.

2.       Public contact was made through posting of the Council agenda on the City's 
official notice bulletin board, posting of the agenda and report on the City's web page, the availability of the report in the Library and City Clerk's Office.

1.  Council authorizes staff to enter into contract negotiations with the City of San Jose 
for an amount not to exceed $350,000 to provide training contracts for up to 50 individuals and to contract with San Jose State University for an amount not to 
exceed $300,000.

2.  Council authorizes staff to enter into contract negotiations with the City of San Jose 
for an amount not to exceed $350,000 to provide training contracts for up to 50 individuals but does not authorize a subcontract with San Jose State University.

3.  Council does not authorize a subcontract with the City of San Jose to provide 
contracting services.

Staff recommends that the Sunnyvale City Council concur with the NOVA Workforce 
Board to enter into contract negotiations with the City of San Jose for an amount not to exceed $350,000 to provide training contracts for up to 50 individuals.  Further, staff recommends authorization to contract with San Jose State University for an amount not 
to exceed $300,000 for the development of a teacher training program for program participants, which would serve the students from the San Jose Silicon Valley WIB.

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