COMMUNITY COMMENTARY -- Jana Schmitt

I’d like to thank you for your May 24 editorial “The time is now to

fix the Westside” and accompanying article “A better place to learn.” My

interest in the topic is twofold. I live on the Westside and am also a

teacher at one of the area’s “low-performing” schools.

Overall, I thought your editorial and article accurately portrayed

many of the little-known positive aspects about the public education on

the Westside.

However, I was concerned with two of the statements made by

Newport-Mesa School District trustee Wendy Leece.

In the four years I have taught on the Westside, I have seen Leece at

my school only twice and have never seen her observing in any classrooms.

In the article on “A better place to learn,” she says that we should be

getting “back to the basics, emphasizing reading, writing, and math.” If

she visited our classrooms, she would know that we are already doing

that.

Here’s a breakdown of a typical day in my classroom, which is taught

completely in English: 90 minutes of phonics, reading, writing, spelling,

and grammar; 60 minutes of independent reading; 70 minutes of math; and

20 additional minutes of writing. The remaining 105 minutes are used for

other subjects, such as art, physical education, music, science or social

studies. Lunch and recess are approximately 55 minutes combined. This

example shows that I spend 240 of 345 teachable minutes in my classroom

teaching basics, which is nearly 70% of the day. And I’m not unique in

this. Many of my fellow teachers do the same.

Leece’s other comment involves students learning English in “an

average of one year -- so that test scores increase.” I would like to

challenge her, or anyone else of a similar belief, to do what our

students are asked to do -- learn a new language in one school year, or

180 days. Plus, after only three-quarters of the school year, they are

asked to take a standardized test prepared by native speakers that

compares their knowledge with that of other native speakers. Finally, we

publish their scores, which are seen by the public as a reflection of not

only their intelligence, but also of the quality of their education.

I and many other teachers on the Westside are fully aware of the

challenges we face in educating our students. Every teacher, no matter

the district, deals with different challenges. Teaching the basics and

language are only smaller parts of a bigger picture. Since so much

emphasis is placed on one standardized test, please look at the facts.

Total test scores are rising, and some students score as high as the 80th

and 90th percentiles.

It seems to me that Leece is out of touch with Westside schools.

Instead of representing the families who are served by the district, she

seems to be serving the families who have abandoned the public education

system by enrolling their children in private schools.

* JANA SCHMITT is a Westside resident who teaches in the Newport-Mesa

Unified School District.