ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : O.C. Educators Like Proposal but Fear Costs

Orange County educators Thursday praised state Supt. of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin’s plan to radically reconstruct California’s public school system but expressed skepticism about whether the public will dig deeper into its pocketbook to pay for lower class sizes and improved technology.

“I believe she has some very fine ideas, but the problem is whether people in California will be willing to provide the money needed for some of her ideas,” said John F. Dean, superintendent of the Orange County Department of Education. “Her ideas are very admirable but also very expensive.”

As part of Eastin’s plans, announced Thursday at separate news conferences in San Francisco and Pasadena, the state would virtually suspend the requirements of the entire Education Code if districts agree to set higher academic standards and be held accountable for their students’ performance. The state would reward schools that show improvements and intervene at campuses where students lag behind.

Eastin said a state law gives her the authority to waive the Education Code requirements.

To help boost academic achievement, Eastin said she plans to sponsor legislation for a school bond measure that would reduce class sizes from a statewide average of 30 students to 20 in kindergarten through third grade, and make safety and technological improvements at the schools.

“My main concern is that if you’re going to decrease class sizes, you better have the resources behind it,” said Sandy Banis, a special education teacher at Helen Estock Elementary School in Tustin and president of the district’s teacher union. “Basically, she’s relying on bond revenue to provide for the reduction in the classroom. That’s money that we can’t necessarily depend on.”

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Other educators, however, hailed Eastin for trying to shake up California’s beleaguered public school system, which has some of the nation’s largest class sizes and lowest spending per pupil.

Gladys Hall-Kessler, president of the Santa Ana Educators Assn., said she believes that taxpayers, in light of the state’s unfavorable educational reputation, will support increased spending for schools if they feel assured the money will go directly into the classroom.

“I think the community is well aware of the fact that we need to reform education,” Hall-Kessler said. “And I’m thrilled to hear that she’s proposing that some class sizes will go down to 20. If you ask teachers what’s their one major problem, they would say it’s dealing with humongous classes.”

Over the next five years, Eastin hopes to implement her plan at every district in California. Initially, nine school districts--none of them in Orange County--have agreed to carry out Eastin’s ideas.

Under the plan, districts must increase mandatory graduation course requirements, adopt an individualized learning plan for each child and create a parent-school “compact” that requires parents to commit at least 10 hours per week to school activities or homework supervision.

Diane Merchan, whose children attend schools in the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, called Eastin’s initiative “honorable” but somewhat idealistic.

“For instance, she’s requiring students to take [algebra and geometry] to graduate. Some kids are just not going to be able to do that,” Merchan said. “And she doesn’t say what’s going to happen to students who don’t meet these standards.”

As president of the district’s council of PTAs, Merchan said she believes it’s also somewhat unrealistic to assume that parents can spend 10 hours a week volunteering at their children’s schools or helping them with their homework.

“I think it’s absolutely wonderful if parents can give 10 hours a week to spend on school activities and to supervise homework, but these days, with both parents working full time, that’s pretty unlikely,” she said. “What happens if parents are unwilling to do this? Do we hold these kids back, or punish them, if their parents aren’t able to participate?

“If the state superintendent can make these things happen, all the power to her. But there are a lot of questions that need to be answered.”

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Officials in the Orange Unified School District, who have long been critical of the burdens imposed by the Education Code and this week launched the county’s first charter school free of code requirements, said Eastin’s ideas intrigue them. But they said they need more information to determine whether such a plan would work in their district.

“I like the fact that she’s establishing incentives for districts,” said Orange Unified Supt. Robert L. French. “Generally, I would be in favor of some sort of performance-based system, because I think the feeling in the community and in the state is that if we’re going to put more money in education, then we’re going to want to see results.”

Orange Unified school board member Maureen Aschoff, however, said she is concerned that the state must galvanize public support for a bond measure in order to implement the plan.

“My perception is that people in Orange mistrust government, and that they would need to be convinced that the bond money would go toward class reduction,” Aschoff said. “It’s going to be difficult getting through that hurdle.”

Dean said Orange County residents may also be somewhat reluctant to embrace Eastin’s reforms because they believe local schools already are doing a good job of educating their students.

“We already have very high-performing schools,” he said. “So when you’re on top, people may not want a lot of change. We always want to improve, but we may have a shorter distance to go than many other districts.”

But he added: “Certainly being on the forefront is desirable, and I applaud the state superintendent’s desire to do this. But as she described it, it certainly will be a challenge.”