ON THE TOWN:Schools need more Laaksos

Over the years, I have suggested many ways to boost the grades and test scores and reduce the dropout rates at Costa Mesa’s schools.

These suggestions include all-boys and all-girls classes or schools, charter schools, a return to a serious vocational arts program, classes teaching kids how to run a business, starting the school day later, and more.

The idea has always been to avoid trying the same thing over and over again hoping for a different result.

But of all the recommendations I have made, not one of them has focused on new people. And in the end, new people in charge, not new teachers, may be the best of all possible improvements.

Some folks would like to apply business principles to improve education, but not all business axioms translate into education. One that does is having the right people in the right job.

This came to mind with the announcement that Judy Laakso, the principal at Victoria Elementary School in Costa Mesa, has become the fourth person in the Newport-Mesa school district in the last year to win the county’s Outstanding Contributions to Education Award.

Upon reading the story in the Daily Pilot, the words “overdue” and “inadequate” came to mind.

Both our kids attended Victoria from kindergarten through fifth grade. My wife was very active on campus, as was I for a time. With Laakso in charge, I also served one term on the school’s site council.

“Overdue” comes to mind because the county is only now catching up to one of the district’s best-kept secrets and one of finest administrators I have ever met. That Laakso happened to choose education is a benefit to the thousands of children who have attended Victoria since 1993, but the truth is that Laakso could have been a successful entrepreneur or business executive.

Laakso has that rare combination of a clear sense of purpose and a desire to have others share her vision. Where some mandate changes, Laakso inspires them.

Each day, Laakso is a presence on campus, alternating between den mother and executive, moving back and forth naturally between each role. There is no hat she has not worn, no task she will not undertake to help improve the education of the children at Victoria.

Her ability to realistically understand what can be accomplished and what cannot also makes her exceptional. Where others may have a dream, Laakso has always had a plan.

“Inadequate” came to mind because rather than an award, I was thinking of a statue.

Anyone who needs evidence of Laakso’s accomplishments need look only at the schools surrounding Victoria. Victoria as a Title I school has more than 40% low-income students. And the three schools that are under the No Child Left Behind Act watch list are all a stone’s throw away.

Despite these mountains to climb, Laakso helped make Victoria a California Distinguished School and helped the school post a score of 828 out of 1,000 on the last round of Academic Performance Tests.

In typical fashion, Laakso credited Victoria’s staff and parents for the school’s success.

No amount of money thrown at a challenge can match the vision, energy and drive of Judy Laakso. So in addition to all my other suggestions over the years, here’s one more: Clone her.