Schools chief weighs in on election

Day after day, wonderful things happen in the schools and classrooms of Ventura County.

Our students are motivated, enriched and cared for by a cadre of talented and dedicated teaching professionals and support personnel, ensuring steady progress on every achievement scale. This is accomplished despite decades of "handtomouth" funding for education that has resulted in California's ranking of 47th in the nation in per-pupil funding.

But rather than rehash this public policy embarrassment in dollars and cents, it's appropriate to tell the story from the perspective of those we serve—the kids.

A 5yearold girl entering kindergarten is experiencing formal education for the first time since she is one of 16 children in her class who were not able to attend preschool. Due to reduced funding, she will be in a class with 24 children, four more students than were in her firstgrade brother's kindergarten class.

She will not have the opportunity to go on field trips that help bring meaning to what she is learning. She will be in an older classroom with an electrical system that can't handle stateoftheart technology.

Her outside play yard was supposed to be renovated this year, but that will have to wait. Parents of the students will be asked to donate language, art and other school supplies.

She will have a wonderful teacher who will most likely use some of his or her own income to supplement classroom necessities and who will work very hard to make sure that she has an excellent kindergarten experience, but will the teacher have all the necessary resources to make that happen?

A young man is transitioning from fifth grade to middle school.

He has worked hard but has had a difficult time learning to read. His teacher has provided extra help, and a reading specialist has given him vital support.

Next year, he will be in a class with 34, instead of 30, other sixthgraders. He might not get the extra help with reading that he knows he needs. There will be no summer school to provide an extra five weeks of readiness.

He will walk farther to the bus stop, so he will need to get up earlier and will get home later. He has been looking forward to participating in his first elective class, but those were some of the classes that had to be cut.

His mother and father are supportive, but sometimes they don't understand the work he needs to complete. Will there be someone available at the middle school to make sure he and his parents get the help they need?

This coming September, a young lady will be a freshman in high school. She will join her older brother, who will enter his senior year.

When her brother was a freshman, there were numerous general, elective, college preparation and academic preparation classes. Some classes have been eliminated, so she will not have this same advantage.

The school encourages everyone to participate in a club, sport or other extracurricular activity. Funds have been cut, so next year's activities will need to be supported by fundraising.

When her brother was a freshman he had English classes with 20 classmates. Now his sister will be in classes with 30 or more students. She will use eight-year-old textbooks that were supposed to be replaced this year.

There will be fewer electives for her to choose from and fewer counselors and administrators to support her if she falters.

Will this young lady's high school years reflect the same opportunity that has been afforded her older brother?

Education is an investment in the future and the true base for America's research and development, but it is not a "business" of profit and loss in the monetary sense.

School districts do not have the luxury of raising the price of their product but are expected to consistently deliver quality outcomes on a regular and continuing basis. We recognize that many are suffering and losing jobs in this economy, but it is doubly sad when our own children are shortchanged.

Compounding this picture is the May 19 Special Election, where the voting public will be asked to pass five separate ballot measures. The failure of any one of the measures—to a greater or lesser degree—will unravel the current state budget.

Of particular importance are propositions A, B and C, the failure of which will result in additional billions in red ink.

Current polls do not reflect sufficient support for these measures—not by a long shot—which begs the question: What will happen to our children then?

Mantooth is the Ventura County Superintendent of Schools. This guest opinion was endorsed by the superintendents of the county's 19 school districts.