Leece leaves dais, remains defiant

Deirdre Newman

As Wendy Leece stepped down from the school board dais Tuesday

night, she remained defiant in her independence, but regretted that

she couldn’t have made more of a difference in her eight years as a

trustee.

She was mainly thwarted, she said, by her war of ideology with the

teachers’ union and its alleged support of more government control,

less parental involvement and less freedom.

“The teachers’ union doesn’t want someone like me because I annoy

them with all my questions of ‘Does this work? Has it worked

before?’” Leece said. “Just because there’s money [for a certain

program] doesn’t mean we should do it. A lot of times, those programs

mean more jobs for teachers.”

Leece ran for the board in 1994 because she wanted to remove

educational practices she believed were ineffective, such as “whole

language” and “new math,” and restore basics like phonics. She also

wanted the Westside schools to improve so that Costa Mesa residents

who had fled these schools would return.

Leece expressed remorse that she was not totally successful in her

mission.

“I should have engaged more people to help me get involved in the

complicated public education system,” Leece said. “But most are so

busy. They are doing the best they can do. It’s difficult for them to

get involved. They expected me to represent them.”

Leece does have a lot to be proud of though, she said.

First and foremost is her run for a third term.

“I’m proud that I didn’t quit,” Leece said. “I stayed in there to

support conservative values and like-minded parents.”

Second is the district’s adoption of a character education program

that she said she repeatedly called for.

She is also proud of her work behind the scenes on behalf of

oversight controls for Measure A, the district’s facilities

improvement bond. And she wants those who accused her of not being a

team player to remember how she voted for the bond, even though she

had pledged no new taxes.

“When it came down to the fact, which no one appreciated, was ...

when it cost me votes, I did what my conscience thought was right,”

Leece said. “When I ran, I said ‘no new taxes’ and I meant that.” She

also wants to clear up some misconceptions that plagued her during

the election. One is that she didn’t put any of her kids in

Newport-Mesa public schools until this past election.

Not true, Leece said. At some point in time, all of her children

have attended Newport-Mesa schools.

Leece also resented that her opponents associated her with

conservatives in Orange that controlled a majority of the school

board.

“They’re my friends because they’re conservatives, but that was a

majority,” Leece said. “I’m one out of seven. ...To marginalize one

member because they can’t tolerate me, it doesn’t make sense in a

community like this.”

Leece said she is now looking forward to having more time to spend

with family and friends and volunteering with the Orange County Youth

Commission.

She said she would also be willing to work with the city of Costa

Mesa as a liaison on education-related issues, but has no intention

of running for City Council in 2004.