State Schools Chief Learns About Campus Needs During Tour

Browsing through the bookshelves at Roosevelt Elementary School in Long Beach, state schools Supt. Delaine Eastin knew in a instant how to help an already strong reading program: new books.

One of the titles that caught her eye, “Famous Negro Athletes,” was published in 1964. Another offered a profile of the now-defunct Soviet Union.

“[These books] don’t belong in a library,” Eastin said. “They belong in a museum.”

In town for a conference on training California’s work force, Eastin said her visit to Roosevelt offered several insights into the needs and strengths of the state’s inner-city schools.

The need for new books is one of the messages Eastin will bring back to Sacramento, she said. But after touring one of Long Beach’s largest elementary schools with an entourage of aides and local administrators, Eastin said she also learned about the problems of crowding and the advantages of ethnic diversity.

As Roosevelt Principal Marnos Lelesi guided the group through several classes, Eastin posed two standard questions to various teachers: “What advice do you have for me? What do you need?” And as in the case of bilingual kindergarten teacher Eve Handen, the answer was often as simple as “more materials.”

Overall, Eastin said, one of Roosevelt’s biggest shortfalls seems to be classroom space. Even a year-round schedule has done little to help the 1,250-student school meet a new state mandate to reduce class sizes. Eastin said she plans to seek more construction money to help growing schools such as Roosevelt.

On the other hand, the emphasis on reading skills was one of the reasons she chose to visit Roosevelt, Eastin said. She pointed out that three years ago the school’s first-grade reading skills improved 50% largely because of teachers’ focus on phonics and an increase in the amount of classroom time dedicated to reading.

“We think that reading is the most important learning skill,” she said.

Eastin aide Doug Stone said the superintendent has visited more than 140 schools since taking office in January 1995.