7 Seek 2 Seats On Santa Ana’s School Board

The challengers and incumbents vying for seats on the school board in the Nov. 2 election agree only that they have widely disparate views about the state of Santa Ana schools.

The five challengers for the two seats on the Santa Ana Unified School District Board of Education say students fail to learn English fast enough under the district’s bilingual education policy, and that parents’ concerns over swelling class sizes and reduced athletic and elective programs are being ignored.

But Robert W. Balen and Richard C. Hernandez, the incumbents seeking reelection, say the district as a whole is performing admirably, especially during a time of plummeting state funding. They point to what they say are dramatic and encouraging gains during their first four-year terms.

For example, the graduation rate jumped 23% in two years. The dropout rate plummeted from 32% to 16% in four years. Almost 70% of the graduates now go on to higher education, a notable figure for a poor district with a large number of non-native English speakers, they said.

“I think anybody who knows our district knows we have made tremendous growth in all areas of educating our kids,” Balen said.

Hernandez said his main goal will be “continuing the improvement that we’ve had. I’m not satisfied with improvement we’ve had. We can do better than that.”

But challengers have criticized bilingual teaching methods as inadequate and the board as “unresponsive” to parents. Other complaints focus on overcrowded classes and a perceived lack of support for fundamental schools, which place strong emphasis on reading, writing and math.

Candidate Tom Chaffee called the bilingual education system “outrageous,” saying that students learn English far too slowly. Currently, the amount of English spoken in the classroom varies dramatically depending on the program in which a child is enrolled.

He proposed eliminating the variety of bilingual programs in favor of teaching classes almost exclusively in English, an idea fellow challenger James Albert Colon endorses.

While agreeing that the bilingual education program needs work, Alfonso Alvarez disagrees with the idea of eliminating it in favor of the English-immersion system. He recommends studying which parts of the system work best, discarding what doesn’t work, and involving parents more in the education of their children.

“They’re trying to scare the community that bilingual education is hurting the children more than it is helping,” he said.

Balen, Hernandez, Cesar M. Castillo and Colleen Coombs said the current program needs improvement but should not be abolished.

Eliminating the present system would “turn (the district) to chaos,” Castillo said.

Castillo said the school district’s most pressing need is to involve parents more in their children’s education, both to help the learning process and to steer the children from gangs.

Coombs said the board has performed competently but emphasized that the district must reduce class sizes, reinstate its seventh-period elective classes for middle school students and designate more fundamental schools.

“I’m not going to bash the district. If I thought it was so horrible, I wouldn’t send my kids there,” Coombs said. “I just think we need to refocus and re-prioritize where our money is going.”

Colon, however, said the board is “unresponsive to parents.” He pointed to hundreds of parents having to camp out overnight in often futile attempts to enroll their children in popular fundamental schools. The board has done too little to meet those families’ needs, he said.

The election offers conservative school board member Rosemarie Avila a chance to gain allies on the board.

Avila frequently votes against the board majority, especially on items promoting English immersion and health care to students at schools. Her views on those issues closely resemble those of Chaffee and Colon. If both were elected, Avila said, she believes they would join her to form a three-vote majority on those and other issues.

School Board Candidates

Here are the seven candidates for two seats on the Santa Ana Unified School District Board of Education:

Alfonso Alvarez

Age: 25

Occupation: Business consultant

Related experience: None

* Robert W. Balen

(incumbent)

Age: 40

Occupation: Partner in environmental consulting firm

Related experience: Served on Santa Ana Unified school board since 1989; served on city Redevelopment Commission, 1987-88

* Cesar M. Castillo

Age: 33

Occupation: Postal worker

Related experience: Served on city Housing Commission, 1991-93

* Tom Chaffee

Age: 41

Occupation: Industrial building engineer

Related experience: Has been a member of several school district committees; served as a Parent-Teacher Assn. vice president

* James Albert Colon

Age: 42

Occupation: Leasing agent for county

Related experience: None

* Colleen Coombs

Age: 35

Occupation: Office manager for real estate company

Related experience: Served for several years on various district committees

* Richard C. Hernandez

(incumbent)

Age: 57

Occupation: Orange Coast College administrator

Related experience: Served on Santa Ana Unified school board since 1989; served on Rancho Santiago Community College District Board of Trustees, 1972-79

Los Angeles Times