ON THE ISSUES

* CHARTER SCHOOLS

Black said charter schools are great because they “give parents a

choice, and they’re a community collaborative, which I believe is the

future of public education.”

She has met with local proponents of Mesa Leadership Academy and

thinks it’s “a fabulous idea -- the wave of the future.” But she also

wants a detailed explanation of the proposed curriculum and how academy

leaders plan to assess it.

* SCHOOL VOUCHERS

She is “dead set against them.”

While she is an advocate of choice for parents, she is also an

advocate of public education. She said she has doubts about how the state

will get the voucher money to schools when, historically, districts have

not received mandated funds.

“They can’t pay us as it is, and we’re going to entrust them with

voucher money?”

* RAISING TEST SCORES

Black attributes the recent successes on the Academic Performance

Index to new leadership.

“We had all the pieces, just not the leadership.”

But she added that scores are “not even close to where they need to

be.” The answer to bring them up is to raise expectations and that the

“key is in partnering with parents.”

* WHAT WOULD YOU DO FIRST WITH THE SCHOOL BOND MONEY?

“I wanted it to happen yesterday -- districtwide,” Black said.

If she had to decide which school to tackle first, she would say

Newport Harbor High School and Ensign Intermediate, because they are two

of the oldest, with Newport Harbor having been built in the 1930s.

* ZERO TOLERANCE -- IS IT TIME TO CHANGE THE POLICY?

She gives that an emphatic and resounding “no,” saying she believes in

the zero-tolerance policy.

“I think the transfer policy is a deterrent -- it was in this house.”

Black said she does worry that it may just “drive the problem

underground.”