Keep the education discussion

Though we didn’t endorse every winner in the Newport-Mesa Unified

School District race, we were pleased that the school board campaign

was pretty clean.

Now, for the most part, school board trustees should be happy with

one another. In the past, and until the new members come on board in

January, the board majority has been dissatisfied with one member --

Wendy Leece.

Leece hasn’t always won us over, either. After all, she’s into

banning books and teaching students the Intelligent Design theory.

But as much as we disagree with those suggestions, we do applaud her

sticking to her beliefs and raising points and ideas that never

strike the other trustees.

With Westside resident Tom Egan replacing Leece, we already sense

that a lot of what were 6-to-1 votes will become unanimous. And

though there’s nothing entirely wrong with unanimous votes, we can’t

help but foresee that the voices of Leece’s constituents -- already

in the minority -- will now be mute.

Egan has been around Costa Mesa for a while, and we’ve seen and

heard him at many Costa Mesa City Council meetings over the years, so

we’re more than familiar with him and know him to be a clever mind

who’s more than capable of fulfilling the post. But we also know that

some of Leece’s opponents put him up to the task to quell her voice.

While Leece will be missing from the dais come January, we hope

that the trustees will step up when necessary and open themselves up

to other ideas so at least they’re heard. There is nothing wrong with

debate and discussion. Who knows? Every once in a while, a better

answer may result. We, and we hope the rest of the community,

certainly don’t want to see repeated unanimous votes with little

discussion.

We also hope Leece, though no longer a trustee, will continue to

attend meetings from time to time to raise issues that would

otherwise be ignored and unheard. While the debates may continue to

be lively, we’re sure she can inject a bit more liveliness into the

conversation.

Now, all of that aside, we welcome back longtime trustee Judy

Franco and incumbent Serene Stokes, along with newcomers Egan and

Linda Sneen -- Trustee Jim Ferryman’s replacement. And we wish them

the best of luck in doing what’s right for Newport-Mesa’s students.