William Butchko

EXPERTISE:
Government Education

EMAIL:
william.butchko@sjsu.edu 

CONTACT INFORMATION:
San Jose State University
One Washington Square
San Jose, CA 95192-0119

EDUCATION: 
M.A. California State University, San José, 2009

BACKGROUND: 

William Butchko is a lecturer in the Department of Political Science at San José State University. He is in the 21 st year of teaching at Yerba Buena High School with more than a decade of teaching AP Government and Politics. He is part of a team of teachers (Clay Hale and Alessandra Cain) that has led to our school receiving the 2026 Civic Learning Award of Merit and the Award of Distinction in 2026.

He has co-authored a paper in Social Science, “Teaching Civic Participation and Media Literacy through Online Civic Action” with Dr. Mark Felton, Dr. Ellen Middaugh, and Clay Hale. He also helped present at NCSS 2025 in Washington, DC on that research and its implementation in the classroom.
William is dedicated to increasing civic education among young people and shepherded over 100 students receiving the California State Seal of Civic Engagement in 2026. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, hiking, birding, swimming, and watching the Golden State Warriors.