What would it take to close the gap in schools?

Wendy Leece

This week we asked our parent panelists the following: Test results

in Newport-Mesa district schools continue to be higher in affluent,

primarily white neighborhoods than in lower-income, minority

neighborhoods. Can that gap ever be closed? What would it take? Is

the district committed to doing it?

It is unlikely that the gap will close in the near future;

however, each year consistent gains in test scores are being made

where teachers in low-income, minority neighborhoods work hard to

educate their students and prepare them to take the tests.

To close the gap there must be courageous leadership at the state

and local levels to fully implement Prop. 227 (English for the

Children) and offer the very best materials to teach English to

immigrants. Low test scores in our schools are the result of

continued influence by the bilingual lobby, which still controls

which textbooks and methods are used. Because of bilingual education,

immigrants and their parents have been coddled and not taught they

must work very hard as newcomers to learn English. Even though voters

approved Prop. 227 in 1998, this thinking still exists and slows

achievement. Scores will not go up until the state Board of Education

and Department of Education discard the bilingual ideology and truly

endorse immersion and pass this endorsement to local officials.

There are exceptions where implementation of Prop. 227 has made an

impact. Look at Greenville Fundamental School in Santa Ana, which has

similar student demographics to our Westside, and note the impressive

scores. They wisely and courageously have used Open Court and Saxon,

two research-based programs not on the politically correct list.

Our teachers could pilot these programs. Former Principal Nancy

Ichinaga was appointed to the state Board of Education because she

raised scores at Bennett-Kew School in Inglewood where she used Open

Court and Saxon.

In addition to considering opening fundamental schools, the

Newport-Mesa district should establish an English-learning center

where K-12 children study to become proficient in English before they

enter an English-speaking classroom.

Many of us have been forced to transfer our children to private

schools or another district school rather than wait until the scores

get better. Also, there are parents who justify lying about their

address so their child can go to a better school. Verification of

students’ residences in all of our schools should not be overlooked.

* WENDY LEECE is a parent who lives in Costa Mesa and is a former

Newport-Mesa school board member.

While socioeconomics play an important part in students’ readiness

and education support at home, ethnicity and income have almost

nothing to do with the ability to learn.

Motivated kids from motivated families will succeed, almost

regardless of any other factors.

I have an excellent personal example.

My two kids started school at Greenville Fundamental School, a

magnet school in Santa Ana that anyone who lives in the city can

attend. You just had to be willing to camp out in line for a couple

of days to get your kid into Greenville.

Camping in line with us were parents of all ethnicities and

economic circumstances. The curriculum and system were fundamental,

as advertised, but overall it wasn’t some sort of educational

revelation.

The key difference was even more fundamental -- parents who were

committed enough to camp out for days to get their kids into

Greenville simply stayed committed, involved and engaged in their

kids’ education.

Expectations were high across the board. We need to do more to

raise the level of expectation in many of our communities, among both

parents and kids.

If the only measure of success is academic test scores and

college- entrance, with the curricu- lum primarily built around those

goals, then we are doing a large percentage of students a disservice.

In Newport-Mesa schools, we’ve now stripped away virtually every

opportunity for kids to learn job and trade skills. There are

virtually no more auto shop, welding, drafting, woodworking or metal

shop classes in Newport- Mesa schools. That’s a serious mistake.

For many in the immigrant community, a University of California or

Stanford education seems like a reach for the stars and is something

to which many simply cannot relate. A solid, well-paying trade job

and a chance to start at a level above the bottom economic rung is a

goal that is understandable and within reach.

We’ll get a lot more leverage over the long haul of generations if

we can graduate some mechanics, welders, plumbers and carpenters who

can move more easily into the economy and raise the level of their

own expectations for themselves and their kids.

* MARK GLEASON is a parent who lives in Costa Mesa.