Briefly in education

-- Danette Goulet

The voices of Westside advocates were heard in Sacramento on

Wednesday.

School administrators, teachers, parents and students gathered at

TeWinkle Middle School in Costa Mesa on Tuesday for a press conference to

express their support for a program that sends teachers to students’

homes for one-on-one visits.

They hoped to let politicians know how important continued funding of

the program was to them. Their wishes were answered -- at least

initially.

A 14-member state Senate Education Committee on Wednesday voted in

support of Senate Bill 33, written by Sen. Nell Soto (D-Los Angeles), by

a wide margin, said Alma Vergara, community organizer of the Orange

County Congregation Community Organizations.

Vergara’s group was instrumental in gaining the support to bring the

program to the Newport-Mesa Unified School District this year.

There was also an interest expressed by three other senators to

co-sponsor the bill, she said.

“That’s great, of course, because it means more support,” Vergara

said.

The bill will go on to a Senate appropriations committee that will

meet in May, Vergara added.

The bill would allocate $40 million annually for five years. In

Newport-Mesa, five Westside schools -- Pomona, Rea, Wilson and Whittier

elementary schools and TeWinkle Middle School -- stand to be awarded

$25,000 each next year to continue the program.