Amador Valley ranked No. 13 on the list that cited its average SAT of 1340 and 30 on the ACT. Foothill was at No. 24 with an average SAT of 1300 and a ACT score of 30.
The top-ranking school in the Tri-Valley was Dougherty Valley in San Ramon No. 11. Dougherty, with its heavily Asian student population, tallied 1360 on its average SAT and 31 on the ACT.
The top-ranked school was Henry Gunn in Palo Alto, where students scored an average of 1410 on the ACT and 32 on the ACT.
The list was dominated by Silicon Valley schools from Palo Alto to Cupertino to Sunnyvale. East Bay schools were led by Mission San Jose (another Asian-dominant student body, No. 5) and Miramonte (No. 7). Campolindo (15), Irvington (23), and Berkeley (25) round out the list.
Notably, there was only one San Francisco public school and one Marin County public school on the list.
The list includes comments from students that would be helpful to read. For instance, Dougherty Valley, given parental and most student expectations, is aimed at the hard sciences and medicine. Good luck if your gifting is in the arts.
So, while it is easy to bask in the achievements across the board, educational leaders and parents must ask the question: at what cost?
The East Bay Times must be desperate for news. In its Monday, Feb. 12 edition, editors ran a screaming 72-point headline across the top of the local news page announcing that Pleasanton Mayor Jerry Thorne had agreed to pay a $100 fine to the Fair Political Practices Commission for failing to file a form.
No, that's not a typo -- $100, a Benjamin Franklin. For serious violations, politicians have been fined tens of thousands of dollars. This amounts to less than a slap on the wrist -- not that you can tell that from the headline.
Just wonder what passes for news judgment these days.
For the record, the Pleasanton Weekly's Express reported the news on Feb. 6.
