Teachers can not be blamed for low...

Teachers can not be blamed for low test scores

Everyone would acknowledge that good teachers are the most

important element of successful learning. Yet, on Dec. 3 on Corona

del Mar High School’s campus, a group of people decided to turn their

backs on Newport-Mesa teachers. They claimed that teachers choose to

focus only on teaching standards yet do these people not realize that

most teachers would welcome the freedom to have more meaning-centered

teaching.

It seems like a giant contradiction on the critics of Newport-Mesa

teachers. How can on one hand you say that there is an overemphasis

on standards and on the other hand state that teachers are to blame

for poor test scores. A teacher cannot win if they “teach for the

test” then you don’t allow for the meaning-centered teaching while if

you do approach teaching with a more meaning-centered approach then

you may not have as high of test scores.

It seems ludicrous to be targeting teachers as the problem when

teachers are the ones who are feeling the greatest effects from

increased restrictions by the state. Under these conditions, doesn’t

it seem feasible that classes with bad test scores may actually be

the classes who are taught by the teachers bold enough to maintain

some sense of a meaning-centered approach? This is not to argue that

test results and meaning-centered are mutually exclusive but to many

teachers it often feels this way.

We should be building partnerships among parents, teachers and

students. It seems it is easier to blame others than to work together

toward solutions. Some participants went Wednesday night thinking

they were going to be part of a group of interested stakeholders who

wanted to improve our education system, but it seems they were alone

with this hope.

MATT PHILLIPS

Executive Director, Newport-Mesa

Federation of Teachers

Creating a new golf course fits Newport Beach to a tee

I think [putting a golf course at Coyote Canyon landfill] is an

excellent idea. Newport Beach needs another public golf course very

much and it would be a great absolute advantage to the city and a

great attribute to the city.

MRS. ROBERT ALSHULER

Newport Coast

Hold the cheers for a

new set of links in town

I was a concessionaire partner at the Scholl Canyon Golf and

Tennis complex in Glendale in the early 1980s. This recreation

facility was built on the former Scholl Canyon landfill.

The problems we encountered were extensive and costly, especially

to the city of Glendale. The questions that must be addressed by the

parks department and city council are many. The most common headaches

we encountered were:

1. Methane odor. Some days it was so powerful that some people got

sick.

2. Ground-settling. The grading of the golf course is essential to

its playability and PGA rules. Landfills will experience

ever-changing grade. Imagine tea boxes and putting greens turning

into 15% plus slopes within a few years. Drainage problems also then

ensue.

3. Maintenance problems. Methane absorbs nitrogen and thus stunts

the growth of trees, brush and grass. Extra nutrients must then be

added to compensate leading to extremely polluted runoff. Replaced

divots rarely survive.

I would recommend the maintenance be handled privately. City parks

departments are not equipped and lack the expertise to handle a golf

course. An expert full-time greens keeper is essential. A driving

range is a must. The range was the main moneymaker for the city and

concessionaire. However, as a revenue generator, a golf course is pie

in the sky. The best the city could hope for is to slowly recoup its

construction costs with rents or percentage fees from a private

concessionaire.

STEVE LEACH

Newport Beach

Supporting neither Bob

nor Dana, thank you

“Whom would you support: Dornan or Rohrabacher?”

Neither. I would support a progressive candidate.

THOMAS MCCARTHY

Santa Ana Heights

What happened to Costa Mesa’s fiscal smarts?

I once read that Costa Mesa was one of the most fiscally

conservative cities in the nation, always very frugal with its money,

carefully spending its citizen’s tax dollars on much needed projects.

Well, you can throw out that label for 2004.

By the way, the Costa Mesa Planning Commissioners pay went up from

the minimal $75 a month to the flat fee of $400, you would think our

economy had fully recovered from the recession. But please correct me

if I’m wrong, the state is still in a major fiscal crisis. Gov.

Schwarzenegger has not issued blank checks to local governments; on

the contrary, he’s attempting to solve the problem with a short-term

bond solution.

Yes, we love you Costa Mesa Planning Commissioners, but how about

$100 a month instead of $400? I know Mayor Gary Monahan is trying to

be nice to you (perhaps so you’ll support him more, maybe even help

him when he runs for state Assembly) but didn’t you take this job out

of compassion and loyalty to our city?

Gosh, it never ceases to amaze me the double-talk of politicians.

They pretend that it’s so hard to cut spending on social services and

public infrastructure, but they have no trouble rushing to raise

their own salaries. At least some of us will have a good Christmas.

WALTER DANZIG

Costa Mesa