Making schools separate but equal

STEVE SMITH

Every few years, there is a discussion of the merits of combining the

Newport Beach and Costa Mesa schools and facilities. The controversy

is so routine, I’m starting to think that the rocks at Stonehenge

were arranged according to a calendar of when to begin the debate.

The discussion usually begins with one side believing that it is

getting the short end of the stick. That side always seems to be

Costa Mesa.

Costa Mesa resident Mark Gleason has opened up the discussion

recently by claiming that the maintenance of athletic fields in his

town is so far below that of those in Newport that it is “discri-

minatory.”

That’s not the first time the word has been used to describe the

disparity between the attention given the schools and facilities in

each city.

Four and a half years ago, I raised these issues in a series of

columns prior to the passage of the Measure A taxes that are now

being spent to fix up the schools that had been left to rot for many

years.

At that time, we were told that the tax increase was to be use for

“brick and mortar” projects, meaning that the funds were going to be

used for serious repair work, without the pork that usually

accompanies such projects.

“Brick and mortar” was the term used by then-Harbor Council PTA

president Jill Money. But a careful examination of the Educational

Facilities Master Plan revealed that Newport Beach was getting a lot

of goodies that Costa Mesa schools were not.

Among those were upgrades to the sound system, drapes and lighting

for the Loats Performing Arts Facility at Newport Harbor High School,

plus new ticket booths for the football field for the same school. If

you own a home, that alone is costing you, collectively, nearly a

million dollars. There were no plans to establish or upgrade similar

facilities at Estancia High School in Costa Mesa, for example, even

though it has a thriving drama program. The upgrades to Newport

Harbor’s theater were not “brick and mortar;” they were “shuck and

jive.”

So it’s a bit refreshing to see a resident of Corona del Mar of

all places, Wilfred Knight, raise the issue of breaking up the school

district in a letter to the Daily Pilot last Thursday.

“Plainly,” writes Knight, “it is not the job of Newport Beach

taxpayers to subsidize those who choose to live and breed in Costa

Mesa.”

You read it correctly, “live and breed.”

But wait, there’s more! Knight also wrote that “Forcing Newport

taxpayers to pay for the education of kids from Costa Mesa is an

outrage. It is pure Marxist creed -- from each according to his

ability to each according to his need.”

The irony here is that unless my information has changed since I

first heard it about five years ago, it is the Costa Mesa taxpayers

who are bearing the biggest burden of the tax load. As I recall from

conversations with former Assistant Superintendent Mike Fine, it is

the larger population numbers provided by Costa Mesa that help

Newport Beach enjoy the school district status that it does. Without

this larger student population, Newport Beach as a separate district

would face the possibility of being classified in an entirely new

category, one that would not be as beneficial to it.

But there’s still more. It should be plain to everyone by now that

the personal financial resources of the parents in Newport Beach are

greater on the whole than those of the parents in Costa Mesa. Some of

that advantage goes directly into the maintenance of fields and

facilities.

There is nothing wrong with that. Whatever Newport Beach parents

care to raise and spend on their fields and facilities is their

business and should not be subtracted from the money available

through taxes.

The challenge comes when we discuss those community finances. It

comes when once again, several schools on the Westside of Costa Mesa

post miserable test scores, and we hear nothing from the

superintendent or the school board. No outrage, no corrective action

to change something that has persisted for years.

Would there be outrage and action if we were discussing a Newport

Beach school with low test scores? No one can say until it happens.

In the meantime, however, the differences in other areas are becoming

apparent, whether it’s restoration of a theater or maintenance of

fields, as Gleason argues.

If this latest dust-up is like all the others, we’ll be reading

about something else in a week or so. Between now and then, expect to

hear why we should keep the schools in the two cities unified. Don’t

expect to hear any solutions to the problems plaguing Costa Mesa

schools.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer.

Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at

(949) 642-6086.