EDITORIAL

For three years, Costa Mesa parent Mirna Burciaga quietly battled the

powers that be.

Spurred on by stories she heard from other parents, Burciaga fought

the Newport-Mesa Unified School District over how it was educating

non-English-speaking students. Focused largely on TeWinkle Middle School,

she argued students were being deprived of a complete education when the

district kept them in too many English-language classes, at the expense

of math, science and history. Other students, she said, were being put

into mainstream classes before they were ready.

It’s never an easy battle, the David versus Goliath contests. For

years, she fought, quietly and behind the scenes. Eventually, Burciaga

had to call in her own Goliath, the federal government, to back up her

claims. And back them up the government did, reporting last month that

the school district was failing many of its non-English speaking

students.

She had won, though she was quick to point out the victory was the

students’. And whether you agree with those findings, you have to admire

the underdogs who are willing to fight the tough fight, to devote their

time to what they believe. Burciaga took on what she saw as an injustice,

and fought to change it, fought to make it better.

The fruits of her labors are already evident, at least according to

the state. This week, Comite de Padres, a unit of the state Department of

Education that monitors English-language programs, praised the school

district for working to make improvements, though it also noted several

areas that need more work.

The district has established a process to assess English-language

learners and notify parents of test results, the group reported.

Now, the district needs to monitor its programs adequately and make

sure they are put in place and maintained.

That would be a true victory for our children. And those children can

one day thank Burciaga for leading the charge.