Public Schools Deserve Good Grades, Most Say

More than half of Orange County residents give high marks to their public schools and believe smaller classes have made a big difference this year in teaching youngsters basic skills, a Times Orange County Poll has found.

The optimism about the state’s drive to give students from kindergarten to third grade more personal contact with teachers comes despite the lack of any hard data that the $1-billion investment has worked.

But three of every five county residents polled recently said capping class size at 20 students apiece has made “a big difference” in teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. Parents with young children tended to be even more enthusiastic.

“I think it’s wonderful. I wish they could do it right through sixth grade,” said Susan Altholtz of Anaheim. Her 6-year-old son, Joe, is in a first-grade class of 18 this year after going through kindergarten with 30 other students.

“They have time to be rushed when they’re older,” Altholtz added. “But kids need the nurturing, to give them a little push and show them they’re important.”

On other education issues, residents displayed Orange County’s trademark conservatism. Often, their views were at odds with those of many education policy makers. Among the key findings:

* Three of every five residents favored giving parents publicly funded vouchers that could help pay private school tuition, an idea anathema to most public school leaders.

* The same proportion said they would back conservative school board candidates.

* Four of five said schools should spend more time teaching basic skills.

* On bilingual education, nine of 10 residents said they prefer teaching kids mostly or entirely in English, even if they are not fluent in the language.

* Seven of 10 backed said they want more “charter schools,” which seek to shift power over curriculum and spending from school districts to individual schools.

In general, the poll revealed a breach between how people feel about their own schools--generally thumbs up--and how they feel about the system--generally dissatisfied.

“That is troubling for education professionals and policy makers,” said Louis Miron, head of the education department at UC Irvine. “They’re caught in a no-win situation. What more can they be expected to do?”

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The Times polled 750 county residents from May 16-19 as an eventful school year was nearing a close and politicians from Washington to Sacramento debated education reforms. The poll, conducted by Mark Baldassare and Associates, has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

School districts throughout the county hired hundreds of new primary-grade teachers to staff the smaller classes, and laid plans for hiring more over the next year. A burst of student enrollment also forced many administrators to redraw school boundaries, reopen once-closed schools and plunk down portable classrooms as fast as they could be bought.

Amid the hubbub, county residents remain generally pleased with their schools. The poll found 54% give their public schools an A or B grade, compared with 43% in a nationwide Gallup poll last year.

“I feel good about my public school,” said Charles Spencer of Trabuco Canyon, whose child attends Robinson Elementary. “I’d give it a B-plus because of the principal and the way he conducts himself and his authority.”

But Spencer, like many others, said public education needs some shaking up. He supports school vouchers. “It would give everybody a choice, and it would increase the competitiveness of public and private schools,” he said.

California voters rejected school vouchers soundly in 1993, swayed by arguments that the proposal could siphon funds from public schools. In Orange County, the measure failed by a 3-to-2 ratio.

Still, vouchers are finding a strong reception in the county, said Baldassare, an urban planning professor at UC Irvine who directed the poll. So are the quasi-independent charter schools. There is only one such school in the county--in Orange--out of more than 110 statewide.

“It’s about choice and control. The basic issues are people having control over their lives and their decisions,” Baldassare said. “They feel that choices should be left up to the individual rather than institutions, public institutions in particular.”

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Many school officials say the surest way to improve public education is to increase funding for buildings, programs and teachers. They note that California spends less per student than many other states.

The poll found that 57% of Orange County residents favor raising taxes to help schools. But that falls short of the two-thirds voter approval required under California law, and a solid minority here remains hostile to any schools levy.

“I don’t ever support any tax increases. The answer would be no,” said Angela Robinson of Costa Mesa. She teaches her children at home and gives public schools a grade of D-minus.

Tapping public discontent with the system, conservative activists have taken control of school boards in Westminster, Garden Grove and Orange in recent years and have gained new prominence elsewhere.

While centrists control most school board seats countywide, residents are gravitating to themes often sounded by conservatives. The poll found 81% want schools to “place more emphasis on teaching the basic skills,” 56% favor allowing prayers in public schools, and 59% would favor a school board candidate “who promotes conservative values, such as stressing abstinence in sex education and opposing bilingual education.”

Of course, many school trustees who call themselves moderates are nonetheless sensitive to conservative issues.

“I don’t think you’d find a school board member in Orange County who honestly believes that you shouldn’t stress abstinence,” said Louise Adler, chief of the education faculty at Cal State Fullerton.

However, the poll showed county residents overwhelmingly agree with a favorite position of conservative activists: They reject bilingual education as it has been defined in California for the past two decades.

In general, the state requires schools with high numbers of students who speak limited English to give classes in their native language. The policy is to move students into English instruction after they have gained literacy in the tongue they know best. But a few Orange County districts, led by Westminster, have set a statewide precedent in the past two years by obtaining broad waivers from that rule.

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The poll found 59% of residents favored an alternative developed in Westminster and elsewhere: teaching students mostly in English, with some help in their native language. Nearly one-third favored using English only. A meager 7% said they prefer teaching in the native language until students are ready to learn English.

Most children in California’s bilingual education programs grew up speaking Spanish. The poll showed Latinos are more inclined than other county residents to favor native-language instruction, but nonetheless prefer English instruction by a large margin.

“If you’re going to teach them in Spanish, they’re not going to try as hard,” said Lydia Calderon, of Buena Park, a native Spanish speaker whose grandson is in public school. “English is a hard enough language. If you don’t get it at the beginning, it takes twice as long. The sooner they learn English the better.”

The poll found county residents are not indifferent to the plight of disadvantaged students.

Last year Orange County sided with the rest of California in approving Proposition 209, a measure that would bar racial and gender preferences if upheld in court. In response, the University of California has proposed a new recruiting push, targeting areas with high-minority populations but staying within the law.

County residents appear to back that idea. Nearly two-thirds of those polled, and more than three-fourths of Latinos, favored allowing public universities to make “special efforts to admit top applicants from high schools in inner-city areas.”

How the Poll Was Conducted

The Times Orange County poll was conducted by Mark Baldassare and Associates. The random telephone survey of 750 adult residents was done May 16-19 in English and Spanish.

The margin of error for the total sample is plus or minus 4 percentage points. For subgroups, such as parents with children in school, the margin of error is larger.

* DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS

South County schools rate higher than north’s do. A28

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Sizing Up Class Cuts

Statewide efforts to reduce public school K-3 class sizes is judged a success by county residents:

* Class sizes in California public schools are now being reduced to a maximum of 20 students in some kindergarten to third-grade classes. Do you think the smaller classes have made a big difference, a moderate difference or no difference in helping children learn reading, writing and arithmetic?

Big difference: 60%

Moderate difference: 24

No difference: 6

Don’t know: 10

Source: Times Orange County Poll

Report Card

Orange County residents grade their communities’ public schools higher than do Americans nationwide. And parents with children in the schools are even more enthusiastic. The countywide devotion does not extend far enough, however, to support the required two-thirds vote for a tax increase that would aid schools:

* Overall, what grade would you give to the public schools in your community?

*--*

Orange Grade U.S. County Parents A 8% 17% 24% B 35 37 43 C 34 25 22 D 11 8 6 F 6 3 2 Don’t know 6 10 3

*--*

Note: U.S. rating from 1996 Gallup survey

* Many of the public schools in Orange County say they need more money for buildings, books and teachers’ salaries. If a vote were held today, would you vote yes or no on a tax increase for public schools in your community?

*--*

55 and Total 18-34 35-54 older Yes 57% 69% 56% 45% No 37 27 37 47 Don’t know 6 4 7 8

*--*

Another Agenda

Although they do not back a tax increase in sufficient numbers, residents do have something of a school agenda--more emphasis on the so-called three Rs, more charter schools and vouchers. They are inclined to back school board candidates who promote conservative values but want public universities to make an effort to increase minority enrollment:

* Do you think public schools in your community need to place more emphasis on teaching the basic skills (3 Rs), or not?

Yes: 81%

No: 17

Don’t know: 2

* Do you favor or oppose increasing the number of charter schools, which would give individual schools more control over their curriculum?

Favor: 70%

Oppose: 18

Don’t know 12

* Do you favor or oppose providing parents with tax-funded vouchers to send their children to any public, private or parochial school they choose?

Favor: 61%

Oppose: 34

Don’t know: 5

* Would you be inclined or not inclined to vote for a candidate for your local school board who promotes conservative values, such as stressing abstinence in sex education and opposing bilingual education?

Inclined: 59%

Not inclined: 31

Don’t know: 10

* Do you favor or oppose public universities making special efforts to admit top applicants from high schools in inner-city areas?

*--*

Total Latinos Others Favor 65% 77% 63% Oppose 26 15 27 Don’t know 9 8 10

*--*

Bilingual Rejection

One concept clearly out of favor is teaching students who have limited English skills in their native language until they are ready to learn English. Residents strongly support mostly English instruction.

* Which of the following do you most prefer for teaching students who speak limited English?

Mostly English with some help in their native language

Total: 59%

Latinos: 57%

*

Only in English as soon as they enroll in school

Total: 32

Latinos: 26

*

Native language until they are ready to learn English

Total: 7

Latinos: 17

*

Other

Total: 1

*

Don’t know

Total: 1

Teachers Graded High

A majority of county residents give teaching quality in local schools a good grade, but are less enthusiastic about texts/instructional material and school administration. Those with children in the public schools are more positive:

* What grade would you give to the public schools in your community in each of the following areas:

Quality of teaching *--*

Grade Total Parents A 20% 26% B 37 40 C 23 23 D 7 6 F 2 2 Don’t Know 11 3

*--*

Books and instructional materials

*--*

Grade Total Parents A 13% 21% B 33 38 C 28 26 D 7 6 F 3 2 Don’t Know 16 7

*--*

Ways schools are administered or run

*--*

Grade Total Parents A 13% 20% B 29 30 C 28 29 D 12 10 F 6 6 Don’t Know 12 5

*--*

Note: Parents are those with children in public schools

Source: Times Orange County Poll