Facts are Westside schools have problems

STEVE SMITH

Here’s how it works: Offer some outrage, some criticism, dare to

challenge the educational establishment, and what you get in response

is a mouthpiece or two, talking in place of school board members who

continue to bury their heads in the sand about a serious problem

happening on their watch.

What you get in response to your criticism is not an official

answer to the long, pathetic record of low test scores from too many

Westside schools; what you get are shills avoiding the issue on their

behalf.

Want facts? Here are some facts:

* Whittier Elementary School on Costa Mesa’s Westside had a 2003

Academic Performance Index rank compared to all schools that is three

on a scale of 10 where 10 is best.

* Pomona Elementary School in Costa Mesa had a 2003 API rank

compared to all schools that is one out of 10.

* Wilson Elementary School on Costa Mesa’s Westside had a 2003 API

rank compared to all schools that is also one out of 10. At least

Wilson is consistent -- its rank the year before was also a one out

of 10.

These are not exceptions; these are norms for these Costa Mesa

elementary schools. But if there is a plan to correct this pathetic

record, it is the city’s best kept secret.

To be fair, it should be reported that last August, when the API

scores were announced, there was one official voice commenting on a

low score.

According to a Daily Pilot story, Jaime Castellanos, assistant

superintendent of secondary education for the district, said the

following about a high school’s drop from 39% of its freshman scoring

at proficient levels down to 11%:

“That to me is a real anomaly. We’ll have to take a look at those

significant [demographic] subgroups. It’s hard to believe that from

Corona del Mar [High School].”

That’s right, Corona del Mar High School. Not a peep about the

tragedy taking place on the Westside, a tragedy that has endured for

years. Not a word about “taking a look” at the long record of

academic neglect on the other side of the district.

Maybe one solution is to transfer all these Westside elementary

school students to Mariners Elementary School in Newport Beach, which

is rated a 10 out of 10 on the same tests.

It is not proper to lay 100% of the responsibility of these scores

at the feet of this school board. There are factors beyond their

control, including a vast difference in the overall learning

environments in the homes on the Westside and the obvious language

obstacles.

But these differences should not prevent this board from offering

solutions.

Soon, the schools on the Westside will be fixed with money from

the Measure A tax. They’ll be brought up to current safety standards

and modernized. But all the physical changes in the world will not

correct this pattern of educational underachievement inside these

classrooms.

The slow start in elementary school for these Westside kids is a

terrible way to begin an education. Entering the education system

with one foot nailed to the floor makes it extremely difficult for

these students to get ahead, to break the pattern of many years of

neglect.

The teachers on the Westside of Costa Mesa are hardworking,

dedicated educators who care about kids. But the Westside teachers

are hamstrung by state regulations and also, I believe, by a lack of

a plan to bail out these underperforming schools.

Parents need to hear from a board member, not an unelected

substitute. They need to hear just one board member speak up and

either defend years of low Westside performance or admit that there

is a problem and then offer a solution.

There is only one conclusion to be drawn from their failure to

address this issue in any meaningful way; only one reason why they

have remained silent and allowed others to do their speaking for them

in a poor defense of the Westside schools’ test scores: They just

don’t care.

And, yes, I’d really love to be proven wrong on that one. All they

have to do is show us the plan to reverse the pattern of years of low

scores on the Westside.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer.

Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at

(949) 642-6086.