Playing Politics at School

* The Times’ liberal bias is showing again (“Clinton’s ‘School-To-Work’ Initiative Attacked, Feb. 18). Your phobia of conservatives was eclipsed by your apparent fear of reporting the substance of the Feb. 11 county Education Department hearing.

At the hearing, liberal proponents assembled a panel of paid bureaucrats to sell another trendy, unproven program for systemic education reform. The four “experts” and five “proponents” who testified in favor of school-to-work were unable to cite any report or study proving that the proposed job-training program, which they admitted was to apply to all students, would be cost-effective, raise academic standards, or result in high-wage careers.

Business leaders and students who expressed satisfaction with current vocational programs were unable to explain why these could not be continued through voluntary, after-school apprenticeships without locking all students into a vocational track. No budget analysis or needs assessment was offered to the board examining secondary impact areas such as curriculum development, new assessment development, or teacher training.

Conservative opponents, on the other hand, presented facts and citations from various state and federal studies, including General Accounting Office reports and pilot programs from other states such as Oregon and New York, which demonstrated that the school-to-work system resulted in lower academic standards, higher drop-out rates, fewer college-bound students, higher per-pupil expenditures and lower SAT scores.

In fact, Oregon is now embroiled in a civil rights suit regarding its implementation of school-to-work! Not one of the opponents’ assertions was successfully challenged by panelists, which could explain why the Democrats hastily voted to postpone the remaining public hearings concerning this issue.

The citizens of Orange County should demand answers to the questions raised at the public hearing before millions of dollars are spent on another experimental program that could result in disaster for our children!

REBECCA BOCCHINO

San Clemente

* So where was the issue? I was at the Orange County board hearing on Feb. 11 and the proponents who were there included business and industry members, educators and parents. All spoke passionately and articulately about the need for school-to-work programs that will provide more rigorous and more relevant education and training for our youth.

A businessman from Bank of America said it spends in excess of $80 million a year on internal training. Schools and business need and should be working more closely together so that Orange County youth will be prepared for jobs and careers in the county.

The opponents presented only one speaker, who wasn’t even from Orange County, and didn’t appear to have any information or understanding of Vision 2020! Elizabeth Parker, board president, was the only board member who seemed to understand school-to-work and Vision 2020 and asked intelligent questions.

If board member Ken Williams’ goal is to raise the level of consciousness about this program, he should attend the Vision 2020 Coalition meetings, visit school sites that have Tech Prep programs, academies or other school-to-work programs and talk to people in the other 49 states who have successful programs.

But to attack a program that he obviously knows so little about certainly makes him look under-prepared and uninformed. I hope he will not continue to waste the public’s time by continuing these pointless hearings.

Williams’ “back to basics” is for people who are frightened of the future and prefer to bury their heads in the sand. We have changed and will continue to change. We must update the educational system and train students for the modern work force.

CATHY THOMAS

Director, North Orange County

Tech Prep Project

Fullerton College

* Regarding the comments of county Education Department board member Felix Rocha Jr. about AB 101, “The Dignity for All Students Act,” (Feb. 18 letters):

It is very troubling that an elected official such as Rocha could so effectively demonstrate the sort of mean-spirited bigotry and insensitivity toward gay men, women and children which makes legislation such as AB 101 such a necessity.

While Rocha is certainly entitled to his personal opinions, as a member of the Orange County Board of Education he has an obligation to protect and serve the needs of all children in local public schools--including both gay kids and the children of gay parents.

Instead of trying to understand and alleviate the pain of the thousands of kids in Orange County who are ridiculed, harassed, and physically assaulted each year because of their inherent homosexual orientation, Rocha seems to have unfortunately chosen to join the gay-bashing bullies on the playground.

With over one-third of attempted teen suicides each year occurring because of anxiety over homosexual orientation, Rocha should be ashamed of himself for contributing to the sort of distorted, hateful mentality which leads directly to the death of children.

KEVIN LAPOINT

President

American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California

Orange County Chapter

* I was shocked by the homophobic statements made by Rocha.

Rocha may represent the view of Christian political extremists, but I believe most people consider his comments just as distasteful as I do. I’m embarrassed to think we elected such a person to a position of authority in our school system.

BILL LAKIN

Capistrano Beach