Hot for Teacher!

Why does it feel like the Bible has been after the Newport Mesa Unified School District lately? I mean it isn't like our Board Members are anything like what Orange Unified has has to put up with. That's down right comedy! All we have to deal with are the lowest paid teachers in the District, three (12.5% of the District's schools) facing FEDERAL sanctions for not having test scores up to FEDERAL standards. Is that bad? With all that going on, the Board decided it didn't need term limits. Board Trustee Judy Franco has been on there for 30 plus years and during that 30 years, there have been great kids coming out of the school district, so what's the big deal? I personally know a Georgetown-educated attorney and a very successful entrepreneur, among many many others, who came out of the Newport Mesa Unified system, so I'm not too sure. The Daily Pilot has been giving it lots of ink, so I have a feeling that it must be one. I kinda brought it up earlier this month when the State of California's education report card came out. Are we losing our focus on education? We put pressure on our City Council to make our Police and Fire are the highest paid, but none for our teachers. I know that our City Council has term limits, our County Supervisors do, and so does our State (although the 6 total years Assembly Members can serve is much too short), so should our School Board? When you change over a board, new ideas can be infused, and the argument that each election cycle is it's own term limit doesn't really fly because the power of incumbency is too great...unless there are serious problems going on. Are these serious problems? Serious enough? I don't think so. Perhaps that is why the Private, and even home, school system in Newport Beach is soo strong. I'd say that it's safe to say that where I live, and in many other parts Newport Beach, a huge majority of the kids there go to a private school, whether it is Carden Hall, Harbor Day, and then Mater Dei. I have NEVER heard someone wanting to move to Newport Beach for it's wonderful public schools. Whereas with Police and Fire, there are no private "options." We get what the the City gives us, and we pay dearly for it, today and tomorrow. When it comes to schools, Newport Beach, and its $40,000 a day residents, don't have to rely on the government to educate it's young; and perhaps that is why soo much ink can be used on the Newport Mesa Unified School District, and perhaps why the Board members don't need term limits, and why they don't have to pay their teachers as much, and why Newport Beach doesn't care. Also, when the Daily Pilot starts to hit the School District, it "forgets" to mention the four (16.7% of the District Schools, 1 more than Irvine, 2 more than Orange) schools which land on the 2006 State of California's Distinguished Schools Award list. But 2006 is so...last year. Maybe it's all Costa Mesa's fault...