After Lopez Recall, Challenges Await

The community is buzzing about the recall of Nativo V. Lopez from the Santa Ana Unified School District Board of Education. Everyone seems to have an opinion about what all of this means for the district.

Many, including the media, portrayed the recall as a simple referendum on bilingual education and a case of school-site NIMBYism. To those of us familiar with what has been going on in the district, the recall was more a referendum on ethical leadership and integrity in decision-making by school board members.

But what now? What does California’s fifth-largest school district do to recover, to produce results? We can begin by cleaning up our act as a board, building more classrooms, improving academic achievement and balancing our budget.

The first step came with the election of new members of the board. Decisions must be based on a careful review of all the facts, not on campaign contributions. Questions from the public must be addressed forthrightly. Board members must respectfully work together.

Most important, board members must stop meddling in day-to-day school district business. The board must adopt an ethics policy that details members’ roles and institutes campaign donation limits. There is a lot of dirt that needs to be moved, and not just at school construction sites. The superintendent and the board must review any improprieties related to school district business.

Santa Ana is the second-densest city in the state. It also is built out. Finding unpolluted, affordable and available land is a daunting task. New school construction must be a joint effort between the school district and the city. Innovative approaches, such as building schools or adding classrooms at existing sites, should be explored. Our legislative delegation must work to make it easier to build facilities.

Santa Ana will always be a district that is in the news. Based solely on demographics, we face some of the toughest challenges of any school district in the state. That said, improving academic achievement must be our priority.

Teachers need to be well-trained and supported, and the district needs to consider increasing the amount of instruction students receive. Students should be required to write every day in every class. We need to establish academies that meet Saturdays and after school to serve students who are below grade level.

Students shouldn’t be passed from grade to grade without a clear-cut determination that the student has mastered the material. English-language proficiency must be a priority, balanced with language-support programs for immigrant children.

Parents need to be fully involved in the teaching-learning process, especially at the secondary level. And we need to hire teachers and principals who have the expertise and passion for working with our students.

We must work with state officials to equalize school funding and to take into account that urban schools require greater funding for support services, including security, counseling and tutoring.

Unfortunately, at this point, the district is looking at cutting as much as $17 million from its budget. How can we ensure that students pass the high school exit exam if we can’t afford the necessary instructional support to ensure their success?

While some are rejoicing over the recall, other members of our community feel they have lost their representation on the board. More than 90% of the district’s students are Latino. Some community members will be tempted to look at the current complexion of the board and come to the false conclusion that Latinos are not fairly represented and that the city holds sway over the school board.

This is simply not the case. All members of the board must be knowledgeable about the needs of all of our students, regardless of ethnicity, class or other variables. As a third-generation Japanese American, I should be judged on my ability to fight for the rights of all our children to receive an excellent education.

Santa Ana’s Latino community did not lose ground with the recall of Lopez and the election of Rob Richardson. Members of our diverse community need to recognize that although they may not always agree with every decision the board makes, they should be willing to participate in honest dialogue, understand why the decisions are being made and stand behind the board during tough times.

It is up to all of us to prove that the end result of the recall election is greater support for education in Santa Ana and a commitment to working toward greater unity throughout the community.