Mailbag - Feb. 5, 2002

Newport Beach should pay heed to skateboarders

The city of Newport Beach should take note and talk to the city of

Santa Barbara, which has a fantastic skate board park at the foot of its

pier (“Find a solution to skate issue,” Jan. 31). The foot of the Balboa

Pier has a perfect spot for a skateboard park. There is a lot of grass

out there that is just sitting empty most of the time, and it would only

take a small portion of it to make a great little area for the kids to

practice and improve their skills. After all, there are baseball

diamonds, football fields, swimming pools, volleyball courts, tennis

courts, etc. for other sport activities. Hooray for Santa Barbara for

recognizing the need and doing something about it. And it’s lots of fun

to watch them too. Balboa Island needs a little something special, and

the access to young people would be great.

PEGGY MAROTTA

Balboa Island

Honorable cheerleaders stood up for themselves

The cheerleader saga still has legs, so to speak (Community Commentary

-- “Some cheer parents need to grow up,” Jan. 27). Here’s a positive

angle to the story that hasn’t surfaced yet:

We should applaud these girls for aggressively pushing to get what

they wanted. They didn’t meekly murmur “Yes sir, no sir” to higher

authority. They fought back, using the legitimate weapons of our modern

society -- publicity, public pressure, string-pulling and threat of

lawsuit.

Newport Beach, that hotbed of movers and shakers, should be lionizing

these girls for demonstrating that they have the right stuff. But you’d

have thought you were in No Neck, Kansas, judging by the large number of

“those uppity kids should just learn to take their lumps” letters and

columns in the newspapers over the past weeks.

When boys demonstrate that they won’t take no for an answer, we nod

knowingly and approvingly. Not so with girls. Do we want to continue

training our girls to be submissive and figuratively wear a burka, or do

we want to develop character to stand up to future Osama bin Ladens and

Enrons? Can they not usefully help us stand up to future political,

economic and sociological droughts and pestilence?

Football players learn valuable teamwork and leadership skills, and

learn how to win within the system. The cheerleaders who wouldn’t take no

for an answer are learning skills for the modern world: how to bend the

system to their will. This is a role reversal that can only strengthen

our society. Besides, we’ll eventually have a female president; if we

work it right, she will hail from Newport Beach.

Three cheers for the girls and the Newport-Mesa Unified School

District for adapting to the 21st century.

TOM EGAN

Costa Mesa

Charter school can better Costa Mesa

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District has managed to stonewall an

intense two-year effort to establish a charter school in Costa Mesa that

would have enhanced the city’s sorely deficient public school reputation

(“Charter school proposal dead,” Jan. 31). The many charter school

advocates were simply worn down by bureaucracy.

Once again, the Costa Mesa members of the school board members did not

stand up for their city.

Compared to immediately surrounding school districts, Costa Mesa

stands as an island of abject mediocrity in a sea of excellence. For

example: 100% of Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Irvine and Newport

Beach schools scored higher on the Academic Performance State tests than

similar schools in the state; Costa Mesa High, Adams, College Park,

Davis, Pomona, Rea, Sonora, Victoria and Whittier elementary schools and

TeWinkle Middle School all scored lower than similar schools in the

state.

Costa Mesa schools’ academic index average is 716 for its

non-bilingual schools as compared to the Newport average of 873 -- a

157-point difference. Is it any wonder that the charter school group

wanted something better for the Costa Mesa children?

When are we going to stop saying that Costa Mesa schools “showed

improvement”? Anybody could improve from the abysmally low base we have

managed to establish over the past 15 years. When are the members of the

school board who live in Costa Mesa going to start representing us?

MARTHA O’MEARA

Costa Mesa

Letter writer should simply visit Estancia

This is my first letter to the editor, but I felt compelled to respond

to Tim Cromwell’s letter (Letter to the Editor -- “Close Estancia High

School and open a super school,” Nov. 27). As a teacher at California

Elementary School, I recently had a wonderful experience at Estancia High

School.

I spent the day at Estancia with the Australian teachers who were here

with our annual exchange program, and after reading Cromwell’s letter, I

was curious to see Estancia and its students again.

Our children graduated from Estancia a decade ago, and we gradually

lost contact with the Eagles, as our family moved on to college,

marriages and grandchildren. I was pleasantly surprised to find the

students better behaved than when our children went there in the ‘80s.

They warmly received the Aussie teachers, and we had great discussions in

several classes.

We found the counselors and teachers caring and professional, just as

they always have been. There is a great amount of quality teaching and

learning going on at Estancia in a wholesome, clean and friendly

environment. It was obvious that the students have a sense of pride and

ownership of their school.

Principal Tom Antal has invited Cromwell to come to Estancia any time

to see for himself what is really happening there, but he had not heard

back from Cromwell.

I could feel the sense of community and family that makes Estancia so

special. As an elementary school teacher and as a parent, I hope Cromwell

takes Dr. Antal up on his offer and sees for himself what a gem Estancia

High School is for our community.

PAT COURTER

Costa Mesa

Newport-Mesa watchdogs do their communities well

Everyone in our community, whether a conservative or liberal, should

be very appreciative of people such as historian George Grupe (“Leece

stands heads above the others,” Jan. 6) and trustee Wendy Leece. Both are

public watchdogs that refuse to be persuaded to a politically correct

point of view.

As a result, they bring to light many issues that the public deserves

to know. If more people had their selfless interests, dedication and

courage, this would be a better world.

Also, I thank the Daily Pilot for allowing readers to read information

pertaining to the various controversies regarding our public schools.

Knowledge is important, and what we do with it even more so.

JEAN OLSON

Newport Beach