Santa Ana School Board Gives Tentative OK to ‘Three Rs’ Plan

Amid criticism from parent activists, a majority of Santa Ana school trustees gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a far-reaching plan to boost test scores by focusing almost exclusively on reading, writing and mathematics in elementary and middle schools.

The plan, which three of the five trustees endorsed in speeches to a packed meeting room, would reshape class time devoted to such subjects as science, social studies, physical education and fine arts, and direct teachers to redouble lessons in basic skills. Supt. Al Mijares aims to raise ninth-grade student achievement on standardized tests, now mired at about the 30th percentile nationally, to at least average within five years.

In another development before the evening meeting, the president of the Santa Ana Unified School District’s board of trustees said he would support revisions of bilingual education programs--a key part of the curriculum in a school system in which the majority of students are not fluent in English.

“The way I’m sizing it up, there are no sacred cows,” board President Nativo Lopez said in an interview. Lopez said he supports accelerating the transition of students from Spanish to English instruction, which now usually happens in third grade. But he insisted that the district should continue to teach immigrant children in their native language when needed.

Tuesday’s events showed that Santa Ana educators appear to be on the verge of taking major steps in an effort to lift the impoverished urban district from a perennial cycle of good intentions and disappointing performance. Their actions will be closely watched. With 52,000 students, Santa Ana Unified is Orange County’s largest district and the seventh-largest in the state.

Mijares said his proposal to overhaul the school day, known as “Project ATM--Above the Mean,” is open to community opinions. But even before the meeting, there were signs that many parents were rebelling. Some complained that they had been caught by surprise.

“I was shocked,” said Wendy Tobiska, president of the Santa Ana Parent-Teacher Assn., who said her organization has not had time to take a position but nonetheless criticized the plan for failing to offer students a well-rounded course of study.

The Mijares plan would not ban teaching of subjects other than the so-called three Rs, but it would relegate them to secondary status. The superintendent is proposing to fold such material as history into lessons on language, and science into lessons on math, for all students from kindergarten through eighth grade.

Portions of the proposal are not without precedent. The San Francisco Unified School District recently began intensified instruction in basic skills with an eye to lifting student test scores above the national average. But what sets Santa Ana apart is the degree to which Mijares and the school board appear ready to reshape the school day.

In the end, district officials must convince teachers that the plan will work. Many have spent their careers as specialists in subjects now considered second priority. It remained unclear Tuesday whether they would go along.

“We all believe in reading, writing and arithmetic,” said one teacher who asked not to be identified. “But we’re all afraid of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”