Board Supports School-Work Grant

Despite the fears of some parents, a divided Conejo Valley school board is supporting a federal effort to introduce students to the work force.

A majority of board members voted late Thursday to support a countywide grant application for funding school-to-work programs--efforts to gear education toward specific careers. The Conejo Valley Unified School District could get about $22,000 if a state panel approves the grant.

But the school-to-work idea alarms some parents, who see it as a threat to traditional learning.

Cassandra Auerbach warned board members that by accepting the federal grant money, the district could lose some control over how its career-oriented programs are run.

“I don’t know why you’re giving away your rights,” she said.

District trustees Mildred Lynch and Elaine McKearn also slammed the effort. Lynch said the grant application calls for a systemic change in curriculum that could place even kindergarten students on a job-training track.

“Getting a kid in kindergarten on a career path is outrageous,” she said.

But three trustees disagreed, saying the grant money would simply be used to beef up job-training programs that the district has underway. Trustee Dorothy Beaubien assured parents that the district would not force primary school students to pick a job. And the school-to-work effort, she said, would enhance, rather than gut, the quality of local education.

“This is not dumbing down,” she said. “This is making education relevant.”