Welcome to the Era of Getting By at School

I am concerned, even distressed, with the proposal to limit Irvine Unified School District seniors to a five-period day. I understand the magnitude of the financial crisis facing the district, but this particular cut strikes at the very heart of our educational mission and is, therefore, unacceptable.

The $90,000 that such a cut would save is insignificant in light of the sacrifice of students and programs, especially because there is no possible alternative funding for the six-period day.

My first question is: “Why seniors?” My second is: “Have seniors and their parents been surveyed on this issue?” Seniors (and their parents), it seems, are considered to be “lame ducks” as well as second-class citizens.

They hold no political power, have no advocates, and there is no senior booster club on our campus. Yet these students have equal rights to the same range of educational opportunities as the rest of our student population. Talk of the “senior slump” and “senoritis” becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The proposed cuts further invalidate the importance of the senior year and send the message to seniors that the minimum is their maximum and that their needs and desires count less than those of ninth-, 10th- and 11th-graders.

Yet some of our seniors at University High School seek to maximize rather than minimize their educational experiences during the final year of high school. Some seek breadth, exploring an elective for which they finally have time after three years of rigorous academic classes.

Others seek depth, taking an advanced-placement science or foreign language class.

Having just returned from a conference on the East Coast, where I “talked shop” with teachers from all over the country, I am more aware than ever how far behind California is, both in terms of class size and numbers of classes available to students.

In 1992-93, New Jersey schools are increasing the mandated number of classes for students from seven to eight! Our Irvine seniors will be less competitive in gaining admission to universities due to more limited transcripts.

If cuts must be made, let them be made as far from the classroom as possible.

LYNNE BOWLER, Irvine