SANTA ANA : School Board Rejects Plan to Seek U.S. Grant

The governing board of the Santa Ana Unified School District has rejected a staff proposal to seek a controversial $113,000 federal grant.

“If the Feds want to give us money, great. Let us do what we want with it,” Trustee Tom Chaffee said. “My problem is that strings are attached.”

The one-year grant, titled GOALS 2000, is intended to improve student achievement at several local campuses. Under the program, each school would recruit teachers, parents and students to create plans to improve learning, teaching and parental participation.

Chaffee and Trustee Rosemarie Avila said they believe such grants hamper rather than help education and promote national educational goals.

Trustees Sal Mendoza and Robert W. Balen opposed the grant request on different grounds, saying that the grant program would duplicate efforts already underway at local schools.

During the meeting, several speakers from cities outside the district urged the board to ignore federal grant offers.

Lori Shanebeck of Fullerton warned that through grant-funded programs, the federal government “is going to tell us how to educate our children in Fullerton and Garden Grove and Santa Ana.”

Those comments rankled several Santa Ana parents, who urged the board to submit the grant request in the interests of students.