Prop. 8 Pro and Con
As a parent with two children in public school, I’m a firm supporter of Prop 8. Its most important provision, school-site governance, ensures parents become decision makers in their local schools.
Academic decisions need to be made at the local level by parents, teachers and principals, not Sacramento bureaucrats. If Prop. 8 had been in effect 10 years ago, California would not be at the academic basement of the nation. Children would not have been subjected to damaging whole-language reading programs and the new “fuzzy math” curricula. If Prop. 8 had been passed 10 years ago, this state would not have faced the highly divisive Prop. 227 mandating the end to bilingual education.
Parents are more than capable of addressing the specific needs of their own children. Charter schools are one proof. The success of home schooling is another. Prop. 8 is good legislation.
GARY TOMAK
La Quinta
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How come no one is talking about Prop. 8? Falsely billed as “educational reform,” in reality Prop. 8 contains seven loosely related, expensive educational proposals, most of which are already in place. The most expensive and detrimental item is a chief inspector of public schools appointed by the governor for a 10-year term and scheduled to cost $15 million to $20 million. Actually, funds would be shifted from the State Department of Education, seriously weakening it while creating another level of bureaucracy.
Currently most schools in the state have school site councils. Prop. 8 mandates them. Why is it necessary to spend $8 million “requiring” a program we already have? In addition, Prop. 8 specifies permanent K-3 class reduction, a program that began in 1997. Other “changes” are subject matter tests for teachers and immediate pupil suspension for drug possession. Both programs are in place right now. Where is the reform? Where are the changes to help our educational system? Why institute state mandates for current local practice?
JEANIE MILLIKEN PhD
Chair, Dept. of Teacher Education
Point Loma Nazarene University
San Diego
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