County boards of education not essential

Newport-Mesa Unified School District Supt. Robert Barbot is dead

wrong in his comments to the Pilot assuming that the elimination of

county superintendents and county boards of education would have an

adverse effect on the district (“Officials eyeing proposed reforms,”

July 31).

He obviously hasn’t read the succession of Orange County Grand

Jury Final Reports along with several educational analysts’ and

contract auditors’ warnings to the public about the waste,

duplication of services and mismanagement that has existed at the

Orange County Department of Education for decades.

However, a strong case might be made for the retention by the

department of certain services such as limited special-education

offerings, juvenile court school settings, specific legal services

and some teacher-training functions.

And most, I think, would agree that districts are capable of doing

their own monthly payroll, currently a function of the county

Department of Education.

Instead of downsizing, as they were meant to be doing when most of

the surrounding school districts unified and became more

self-sufficient, this huge and mostly unnecessary bureaucracy has

continued to grow, unchecked. And, what about the somber warnings

given to the public many years ago by the Little Hoover Commission,

which called for a complete reorganization of county departments of

education?

As far back as 1969 and 1970, there were serious concerns voiced

regarding continuing duplication and overlap. Just go out and ask

most Newport-Mesa teachers what the Orange County Department of

Education has done for them lately and see how they reply. Even

Assemblyman John Campbell, according to the Pilot article, has stated

that overhaul is essential to a successful future for state

government.

For Barbot to proclaim that the department is important for

providing a needed layer of oversight is simply wrong and misguided

given the facts. He knows it but won’t rock the big,

educational-establishment boat. The state Department of Education in

Sacramento and our own school board give us more than sufficient

oversight. We don’t need this expensive and questionable middleman to

provide a quality education for our youth. Once again, remember the

responsibilities of the county departments were supposed to diminish

rather than increase as counties throughout the state became more

populated. Everyone would probably agree, though, that county

department of education services are still needed in rural counties.

Don’t forget that the Orange County grand jury is your county

government watchdog. Taxpayers would do well to heed its advice and

the advice of others who have thoroughly researched this issue.

KENT MOORE

Corona del Mar

* EDITOR’S NOTE: Moore is a former candidate for the Coast

Community College District board and was a member of the Orange

County grand jury from 1981 to 1982.