EDUCATIONALLY SPEAKING -- gay geiser-sandoval

I got mail about last week’s column. One reader said he couldn’t figure

out my point. My point was that this district has kids from each end of

the money train.

Those on the caboose don’t seem to get their fair share. Those on the

engine do. I want all of the students who ride the district’s train to

have the same facilities, the same access to books, the same access to

quality teachers. If we decide to tax ourselves for the sake of our

children, how can we make sure that all of the kids on the train got the

same ride five or 10 years from now?

Another reader said I had picked Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday to

harm our district by bringing more division to it. Although I didn’t plan

it, it seems most appropriate that we examine this issue in reference to

Martin Luther King Jr.

Thomas Jefferson was looking for a natural aristocracy based on virtue

and talent, as opposed to an artificial aristocracy based on birth and

wealth. Martin Luther King Jr. advocated a nation where a person is

judged on the content of his character as opposed to the color of his

skin.

The cultivation of virtue, talent and character happens in our schools.

If a student finds out that he gets the book that was being thrown away

by another school, what conclusions will he make about the value we place

on different students in our district?

If a student finds out that one school in the district has been

completely modernized while his school is without enough playground

equipment, how will he define equality? We can talk all we want about

fairness and justice, but as every parent knows, if our actions speak

otherwise, we might as well save our breath.

When I was on the School Demographics Committee four years ago, we were

looking at all possible student housing locations. At the time, Rea

School was closed as a school, and was being leased out to other

agencies. We were originally told the school was in such bad shape that

it wasn’t worth reopening.

One option we looked at was razing all of the buildings and putting up a

school made up of portable classrooms. The 1999-2000 figures show that

99.10% of the 680 students at Rea Elementary School are from low-income

families. The total cost to revamp the school was $2.3 million. Wilson

School, with 92% of the kids coming from low-income families, has had to

raise funds for years to get new playground equipment.

Eastbluff School campus was leased to a private elementary school, which

was using the facility for an elementary school up until the time the

school was remodeled. The private school had just made improvements and

put in new playground equipment.

The cost of remodeling so far is $5.4 million. The district spent over

twice as much for less than half the number of students at Rea. The

number of low-income students at Eastbluff School is 0%.

I try to think that the amount spent on remodeling and the percentage of

low-income students is merely coincidence. I’m hoping that we remodeled

Eastbluff School in grand style to use as the “model home” of the school

neighborhood.

The model home is always the one with all of the extras and special

amenities that make us want to buy into the neighborhood. It will help us

visualize what it could be like to have schools without bad plumbing and

faulty electricity.

I’m happy that Eastbluff School has such a tremendous facility, and I’m

not out to harm Eastbluff School. I hope that when it comes time to vote

on a bond, the parents of the kids at Eastbluff School remember that the

kids at Rea School would like to have their school be a model home, too.

That means all of us will have to dig down into our pockets, no matter

what the school next to us needs.

The next school in the district due for construction is Newport Coast

Elementary School. It is being built from scratch and is in a 0%

low-income neighborhood. Plans have been shown at the school board

meetings.

The school will be stunning. I would guess that more architectural time

was spent thinking about how to make the roof of the school aesthetically

pleasing from the hill above, than was spent planning many of our

schools. If the cost of construction goes over budget, it will be

interesting to see what the school board does.

When my kids saw the school district’s list of goals and objectives, they

asked why the list said that the district valued each student the same,

but some schools had a science lab, or a theater, or a swimming pool, or

a gym, while others didn’t.

They asked that if it was equal, how come some schools had new books and

others had outdated ones? How come the courses and curriculum aren’t the

same? Ask your kids what they think about the district schools they have

visited and if they look the same. Ask what message they got from it.

Do we still need to work on Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream?

* GAY GEISER-SANDOVAL is a Costa Mesa resident. Her column now appear

every Tuesday. She can be reached by e-mail at o7 GGSesq@aol.comf7 .