How to Maintain Good Public Schools

Within a few days, only about 66% of registered voters will journey to the polls to cast their ballots or will have already mailed their absentee ballots, a deplorable number of the 1.3 million qualified to vote in Orange County. That percentage will drop markedly in the school district elections, which is even more alarming.

Believe it or not, there are factions out there whose sole aim is to destroy public education. They will deny it, but if we listen very carefully, we can hear the winds of destruction behind their rhetoric.

Public education is the backbone of America. It may have its problems, but so does the nation, and we cannot fix it by destroying it, no matter what the naysayers promote.

The “I got mine, now you get yours” and “I’m not going to help you” attitude is at work in our land, and unless the voters of Orange County are very careful, cautious and diligent, that philosophy will prevail at the polls, and public education will become a thing of the past.

School districts throughout California and across the nation have found themselves in the clutches of some single-purpose, one-agenda trustees who have one song to sing: “Public education is bad, and getting worse, and that’s the fault of (fill in the blank).”

Public education in Orange County is not bad; it’s good and getting better. Statewide and reliable polls of our parents report we are ranked the best in California. If the parents believe their children are gaining a good education, and their children are happy in school, their opinions must be respected.

School board races throughout the county feature some great candidates. As voters, our challenge is to make knowledgeable decisions, and making informed selections is often perplexing at best. As a nonpartisan office holder, I am bothered by those seeking nonpartisan board seats, for example, by aligning their campaigns with partisan politics. Schools and children must not be pawns in political ideology games.

So where does that leave us? No. 1, of course, is to vote responsibly. If we don’t know the candidates, ask someone who does. The Fourth District PTA (Orange County) has surveyed all the school board candidates. In essence, they were requested to respond to questions concerning their qualifications, motivation, preparation for public office, time availability, and whether they have children or grandchildren in public school. The answers were published recently and are available.

The League of Women Voters and the American Assn. of University Women conducted similar surveys in various parts of the county and in some cases hosted candidate forums. All survey responses are available directly from those sources.

Encouraging our friends to vote knowledgeably is another opportunity for objective governance. People without children in school often have no idea which candidates are qualified to hold offices that will guide and direct education in Orange County for the next four years.

Recent reports that there are limited candidate forums are troubling. Few school board candidates can raise enough dollars to pay for extensive advertising. Unfortunately, those candidates with the most money for advertising tend to have outside support.

The future of education in Orange County well may rest in the hands of the 1996 electorate. The boards of education need people of vision for all children.