Residents should welcome a little entertainment in...

Residents should welcome a little entertainment in the community

I support the Cirque du Soleil show “Varekai” in Costa Mesa 100%.

I have been a resident and property owner in Costa Mesa for 13 years.

Last time it was at the fairgrounds, I thought it was the best circus

I ever saw. I wish it came to town every year.

Those who don’t like it because of the noise should find a nice

quiet place to live. I’m sure Leisure World would love to have you,

and maybe I’ll see you there in 50 years. Till then, I’ll be out

having fun.

TED ROWE

Costa Mesa

Where on Earth is the education

in this county and country?

As usual, I enjoy Steve Smith’s column. And as usual, I agree

completely with the piece titled, “Earth first, Mars later.”

I’m a third-grade teacher for Santa Ana Unified School District

and live on the east side of Costa Mesa. Things are getting pretty

bad at work. Morale is bad and next year looks pretty grim. The class

size is going from [a ratio] of 20 to 1 in the lower grades to 31 to

1, with no [teacher] aides. Santa Ana Unified School District will be

laying off 600 teachers next year. I hope I will still have a job

next year, because I really love what I do.

This year had been really hard; we received no supplies at all --

not even construction paper. Teachers are forced either to buy their

own supplies or do without them. We lost all our [teacher] aides, and

we have no support for students who are struggling with the

curriculum. The amount of paper work we’re asked to do has increased

tenfold, yet help for struggling students has decreased

proportionally.

I no longer know what to tell the parents at parent conferences.

Pretty much, it goes like this: “Yes, your child is struggling and is

below grade-level in reading and math.”

“No, we do not offer any help for your child. No, we do not have

anyone to work with him one-on-one, as we do not have aides in the

classroom anymore. No, I’m sorry, we just can’t help.”

You can imagine my frustration at parent conferences and daily.

Low supplies and no help for struggling kids, extra curriculum

added every year, long staff meetings to talk about all the problems,

layoffs, increased class size.... Sometimes I think maybe I should

just get my real estate license.

Anyway, thank you for sympathizing with the plight of educators in

Orange County and, I’m sure, our entire state. Thanks for filling the

public in on what’s going on, and thanks for picking our children

over space exploration. I assure you that’s definitely a better place

to invest our money.

Let’s just hope our fearless leaders make that choice too. Thanks

for all of your columns. I really enjoy them.

ELIZABETH BARNES

Costa Mesa