Monterey Schools

I cannot remember when Monterey had a sitting City Council member who was also a parent of children enrolled in our local public schools. Education professionals - yes, but not parents who shared the daily life of their children enrolled in our deteriorating schools.

My wife, Carol, and I are both products of public schools and our three children have been enrolled in Monterey public schools since kindergarten for our oldest, who is now a senior at Chico State. Trudy (21) graduated from Monterey High in 2000; Jack, 17, is now a senior at Monterey High; and Ian, 13, is an 8th grader at Colton School. All attended Monte Vista elementary school, and all were fortunate enough to have experienced 2nd Grade with the late Ruth Vreeland.

We know first hand the decline of our school system. Jack was able to participate in the GATE program in elementary - now disbanded. Trudy was able to take Spanish as an elective at Colton. It is still included as an "elective", but Ian got his last choice for electives, on unknown criteria for assignment. He couldn't change it. I don't know what is going to happen with the Colton experiment this year, but Ian is less than enthused so far. It has only one counselor on staff - unacceptable.

Fortunately, Jack is able to participate in MAOS at Monterey High, but that is largely funded by interested parents. He has enjoyed wrestling and volleyball from the 9th grade, learning these sports at the freshman and JV level so he can now compete at the varsity level. But this year, MHS cut back on Junior Varsity coaches due to lack of funding, so these programs will be curtailed. Sports and enrichment programs that we have been able to enjoy in the past at our neighborhood schools have gradually fallen victim to the budget.

I have watched the majority of Ian's friends through elementary school opt out to private schools, in far higher numbers than among Jack and Trudy's friends. Yet I am committed to public school for my kids - for diversity and an experience of the real world. But we must improve the quality of our children's educational experience if they are to be competitive in the future.

What the City Cannot Do:
The City cannot give money to the school district (even if we had any), and the City Council cannot fix the school district (and most certainly it cannot "act quickly to restore our school system" as one of my opponents has promised). But it can do more than it has to enrich our children's education, if we seize the initiative and are willing to pay for it.

What We Have Done:
While I was on the Parks and Recreation Commission, Ft. Ord closed and the decline of MPUSD began. In response, we began to develop partnerships and lease arrangements with the school system and individual schools within our city whereby the City would improve playgrounds and school grounds at City expense in return for use of those grounds after school for children recreation programs. This is entirely legal, and provided considerable enhancement of our schools when the School district could not afford to maintain or improve those grounds and fields.

Projects that I worked on included the "greening of Bayview"; MHS tennis courts and lower fields; Larkin School park and Pinto baseball field; and improvements at Monte Vista, Del Monte, Foothill and Colton Middle School. Much of this was funded by generous grants from the NIP committee, and we had a win/win situation for our kids.

Three of those seven schools are now closed. Our Monterey enrollment continues to decline because we are unable to provide sufficient housing for young families in Monterey (but see "Work Force Housing"). Unless we reverse this trend, we will continue to see school closings, and our efforts to improve school grounds will go for naught.

What We Can Do:
However, using the same "lease/partnership" arrangement, we can still enrich the education experience at our neighborhood schools. Just as we sponsor after school homework and recreation programs at our schools, the City could hire certified teachers to teach Spanish or French to 7th and 8th graders at Colton every school day (all semester) at 4 PM for an hour class? Textbooks could be used, homework handed out, and grades given just as though it were an elective. With the consent of the District, the grades could even appear on the transcript from Colton, but would in any event better prepare our students for foreign language classes in high school.

Such a program would have to be available to all 12 or 13 year old residents, but standards and discipline could be established for those who failed to make progress, or were attending only for baby-sitting. We have a right to expect that attendees are there to learn, and not disrupt the experience of those kids who are. Other courses could be established under the same principles for other languages, arts, music, and science, depending upon interest.

Similarly, the City could hire JV coaches for after school practice, or administer organized intramural sports programs, which were popular when I was in high school. Athletic participation and competition is important for all kids, not just varsity athletes.

The only downside to this is cost - to the City and/or the parents. But we have the same issues with any recreation program - the only difference here is that a certified teacher would be more expensive than a high school playground director, and textbooks are needed (does the school district have any to lend to a program?). What if any subsidy would the City provide? We subsidize lots of other recreation programs - which is to say that we provide them for a fee, but at less than City cost.

The possibilities are endless, and could be determined by active PTA groups working closely with the City Recreation Department. Different courses could be given at different schools, depending on interest and parent support. It would even seem possible that something like a GATE program could be developed on Saturday mornings (Hilltop?) for those students interested in receiving in depth stimulation on e.g. literature, creative writing, computer science or physics. Certified teachers would be employed (perhaps gifted retired teachers willing to take on one course per week?), develop a program, teach those wanting to learn more, and give homework and grades.

The School district will fix itself eventually, but my kids will be grown by the time that happens. And if we don't fix our housing in Monterey, our kids could be busing to Seaside and Marina by then, anyway.

We can and should do more now! If elected, I will work with interested PTA's to bring such a program to reality.