GAY GEISER SANDOVAL -- Educationally speaking

Those of you who studied the separation of state and federal powers

must have enjoyed the presidential debates as much as I did.

In an effort to deter too much power in a central government, the U.S.

Constitution delineates the powers of the federal government.

It left the rest of the governmental functions to state or local

governments. Dealing with foreign powers is for the federal government.

Education is not; it is to be directed by local school boards.

But in the frenzy to “fix our schools” over the last few years, both

federal and state legislators have been drafting laws and allocating

funds for their pet projects.

California, with its unusual system of statewide initiatives, has

propositions on the Nov. 7 ballot on vouchers and a decrease in the

percentage of voters needed to pass school bonds.

Whatever your views about the propositions or politicians, does it

bother you that we are getting further and further away from local

control of our schools?

The presidential candidates have made education their main campaign

issue, but federal funds account for only 6% of schools’ budgets.

I have more faith in teachers fixing our schools than I do presidents.

Speaking of school budgets, the Newport-Mesa school board last week

passed a resolution showing that the district is in compliance with

requirements for textbooks and instructional materials.

The board found each pupil has sufficient textbooks and instructional

materials consistent with the content and cycles of the curriculum

framework adopted by the state Board of Education.

I thought some students didn’t have their own textbooks. Some are

missing from classrooms altogether and some are available only as a class

set, which students can only access in the classroom. They can’t take

them home for study or review.

District officials assured us money is no longer a stumbling block; if

a student doesn’t have a book, it is a matter of communicating that to

the district.

Perhaps a parent group on each school campus could survey the teachers

or students and ensure that our students have all the necessary books.

* * *

The PTAs of Corona del Mar and Newport Harbor high schools have taken

on the momentous task of organizing College Night.

Corona del Mar’s College Night will be tonight in the boys’ and girls’

gyms.

Workshops on financial aid and SAT preparation will start at 6 p.m.,

with 120 college representatives there from 7 to 9 p.m.

The enthusiasm for college life is infectious.

If your child needs motivation to get good grades, go to College

Night, even if high school is still a year or two away.

* * *

“Speak Out,” a teen summit sponsored by Costa Mesa’s Advisory

Committee of Teens, will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Orange

County Fairgrounds. Admission is by school identification only.

Some teenagers think government doesn’t care about what they think or

their ideas. This is the city’s chance to disprove that theory. Teens

will be surveyed in written form and in an MTV format.

Bands and other forms of entertainment will be there too. It is

commendable that our future leaders, in the form of this city committee

made up of teenagers, have provided our teens with a first-hand look at

participatory government and democracy in action.

* * *

Teenager Lauren Thompson, a recent Newport-Mesa graduate now attending

Marymount Manhattan College in New York City, is about to make the big

time.

She made the finals for her original dance composition, which

premiered at her high school’s Academic Oscar Night last fall.

Last week, she went to Florida to tape her performance, which can be

seen on the television show Nextbigstar.com.

Lauren has been dancing around my house since she was 2.

I can’t wait to see our hometown girl’s name in lights on Broadway.

* GAY GEISER-SANDOVAL is a Costa Mesa resident. Her column is

published Tuesdays. She may be reached by e-mail at o7 [email protected]

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