Time to Put Education First in Orange District : Students’ best interests must prevail over ideology

The Orange Unified School District has been a focal point of controversy over public education. In last week’s election for three seats on the board, the self-described conservatives trounced the self-described moderates. Now it is time to put education first, not ideology.

Before the balloting, the votes on the board often wound up 4 to 3, with conservatives winning. Now the tally could well turn out to be 6 to 1.

Turnout, though abysmal, was not quite as appalling as past elections in years when there were no high-profile races such as president or Congress to entice voters to cast ballots. It is unfortunate that people feel an election to determine the makeup of the school board is not important enough to warrant voting.

This time 19.6% of the eligible voters cast ballots, up from 14.3% two years ago. The reason for the higher percentage was said by some analysts to be the recent hot-button issue of bilingual education.

The board voted 7 to 0 this year to end bilingual education and switch instead to an English-language “immersion” program. The board put an advisory measure on the ballot, asking voters if they had done the right thing. More than 85% of those who voted said yes.

That is not surprising, given the widespread dissatisfaction with the pace at which students from homes where English is not spoken learn English in school. The Los Angeles Times Poll recently found that 80% of voters questioned said California’s schools should teach in English. Although there was a large number of supporters of bilingual education in the Orange district, they failed to sway the board.

The district includes 29,000 students in Orange, Villa Park and parts of Anaheim, Santa Ana and Garden Grove. The pupils come from a wide variety of ethnic groups and from a range of economic levels that includes poverty at one end and great wealth at the other.

Too often in past years the board has appeared to slight students from poorer, often Latino, areas. Trustees have refused to give help even when it cost little or nothing. That should change. Some students require more assistance than others; it is the duty of teachers, administrators and elected school board members to help students get that aid.

Last year, the board cut off assistance to Lampson Elementary School in Garden Grove, where administrators had been energetic in seeking outside help for students. In three years, Lampson received more than $200,000 in grants. The Weingart Foundation, a philanthropic organization, contributed $25,000 for a family counselor for the school and to help it open a family resource center.

That allowed the school to become a community resource. Parents, many of them immigrants, were able to use the school as a gathering place, a facility that could provide answers for their questions. But the board barred all 37 schools, including Lampson, from taking future grants. This summer the counseling program ended.

One successful candidate spoke of the need to increase parental involvement in the schools. That should be a primary goal. But one way to do that is to listen to parents, not to dismantle programs that they want.

Getting parents’ support emphasizes for children the importance of education. Help with homework, questions about what was learned in class, reinforce at home the lessons learned in school.

The trustees also must realize that some students benefit from counseling and need professional help that is best offered at the school or next door. Not everyone comes from the picture-perfect family of a sitcom.

The past comments of some trustees that federal programs aiding schools are like addictive drugs from a narcotics pusher are nonsense. Two of the winners in last week’s election won by fewer than 300 votes. None of the candidates racked up overwhelming margins. Rather than reading the results as a mandate, winners should reach out to all with a stake in public education in Orange.

The board must make peace with the teachers, whose union opposed the conservatives. Trustees should renounce ideology, the overtly political philosophy, and emphasize giving the students the chance for a good education.