Money Woes Still Plague Schools

As school districts all across California were celebrating their first real increase in funding in four years, the school districts in Orange County merely breathed a sigh of relief that the increased state funding would help to alleviate the dramatic effects of the Orange County bankruptcy on public education. Your story and chart (“Schools Pass Economics Test,” Sept. 3) implied that school districts suffered no real harm because of the bankruptcy. That message was misleading, at best.

The story simply did not describe the situation school districts have endured since the county declared bankruptcy last December or the long-term, far-reaching effects the bankruptcy will have on our schools for years to come. If one were merely to glimpse at the story and only read the opening paragraphs, he or she would be left to believe that school districts did not realize any “serious” effects because of the bankruptcy and instead “cried wolf” during the past nine months. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Capistrano Unified School District and every other school district in Orange County worked very hard to keep cuts as far away from the classroom as possible. Regrettably, your reporter did not mention that until very late in the article.

You will be doing a tremendous disservice to your readers if you do not help them to understand that the cuts schools had to make because of the bankruptcy were very real and very deep, and will be felt by our communities for years to come. Yes, it will take several years for our school districts to restore many of the reserve balances we had to reduce to an all-time low. Expending funds to restore our reserves will prevent us from financing new programs and services our children desperately need to remain competitive.

JAMES A. FLEMING

Superintendent

Capistrano Unified School District

As a classroom teacher in the Santa Ana public schools as well as a resident of the city, I am very concerned with the attitudes reflected in the remarks attributed to Lucinda Hundley and an unnamed administrator regarding donations to the SAUSD after the bankruptcy (“O.C. Bankruptcy Brings Wealth of Community Gifts,” Sept. 4).

The article points out the obvious, namely that less-affluent school districts do not have the community wealth on which to draw that some districts do. Hundley’s remarks, as reported, lead me to believe that some of the wealth that is here in Santa Ana is not only untapped but also unappreciated by those at the district level. The unacceptable attitude patronizes many of the parents with students in our schools.

The remarks quoted seem to indicate that gifts were accepted, but only from those the district administration deemed wealthy enough to give them. What overwhelming self-righteousness gives public employees the right to decide that someone cannot help because they don’t feel they have enough money?

I, for one, was raised to believe that every person could and should help in the community. The size of the gift, whether it be in cash, supplies or time, should only be decided by the one giving the gift, not the recipient.

Studies and reports on successful schools regularly indicate that parental involvement is one of the keys. How ready would you be to participate in activities at the school site if you, as a parent, had offered a gift to the school district and were rebuffed? The lack of parent involvement has been a hot topic among teachers since I began teaching here 12 years ago. This kind of misguided action on the part of the district can only make it more difficult for those of us “in the trenches” to get parents more involved in their children’s educations.

The resignation in the comments of the unnamed administrator cause me real heartache. The quote, “But we are used to it,” says so much. It indicates an attitude that says that nothing will change and that nothing we do can change it. It says that Santa Ana parents are too busy to be involved in their children’s educations and we must just accept that. I for one do not accept that.

SANDRA L. PORTER

Santa Ana