Support and criticism for schools changes

COSTA MESA — Parents and teachers praised and criticized the Newport-Mesa Unified School District on Tuesday evening, as the school board held a final public hearing on the three schools facing sanctions under the No Child Left Behind Act.

At the 2 1/2 -hour hearing, a number of people sided with the district's hearing panel in its recommendations for Pomona Elementary School, Wilson Elementary School and TeWinkle Middle School, each of which must take corrective action this year. Among the panel's ideas were changing the elementary school curriculum for students learning English, lengthening the school day and bringing in new administrators at Pomona and TeWinkle.

Critics faulted the seven panelists for spending too little time at the schools before writing their report. The panel — which included Newport-Mesa teachers and principals — visited each school for one day in November.

"I think it takes more than a three-hour visit," said Denise Newcomer, a veteran teacher at TeWinkle. "I would certainly hate to have someone come into my home and judge me as a parent in the space of a few hours."

Supt. Jeffrey Hubbard and teachers union President Jim Rogers said they wished they could have taken more time at the schools, but they reminded the audience that Newport-Mesa had never dealt with No Child Left Behind sanctions before.

"I consider it the maiden voyage, and I hope we're not on the Titanic," Rogers said.

Several people on both sides slammed the No Child Left Behind Act throughout the hearing, with Hubbard calling it "punitive" and TeWinkle PTA President Vicki Snell saying she would refrain from criticizing the act because it would be "preaching to the choir."

Administrative services coordinator Laura Boss said the district sent buses to Pomona, Wilson and TeWinkle on Tuesday evening to escort families to the hearing, but all three returned empty.

The school board is expected to vote Tuesday on whether to accept the hearing panel's recommendations. The panel issued its final report Friday after attending public hearings at each campus last month.

Pomona, Wilson and TeWinkle entered year three of the Program Improvement list in August after their standardized test scores again fell short of federal requirements. Until this year, Newport-Mesa never had a school go beyond year two of Program Improvement.

The state requires that 24.4% of students score as proficient or above in English on the California Standards Tests, and 26.5% in math. Next year, the benchmarks will increase by about 10 points each. Individual states determine the percentage of students who must be proficient, but the federal government has required 100% proficiency in English and math by 2014.

Rogers said on Tuesday that it would be a difficult goal.

"If we had those kinds of guidelines for sports, everyone would be an NBA basketball player," he said.