EDITORIAL

More than 21,000 children and teens streamed back into Newport-Mesa

classrooms this week with a huge advantage.

The albatross of deteriorating campuses that hung on the back of

Newport-Mesa schools for years has been tossed into the dust bin of

history.

Bathrooms that were so in need of repairs that children refused to

step foot in them, cracks in the ceilings and floors and tales of rodent

infestation will soon be problems of the past.

That it happened was nothing short of a miracle -- made possible, of

course, by the hard work of volunteers and the kind votes of local

citizens -- but district officials were able to convince a normally

tax-wary public to pass a $110-million bond measure last June.

So now, with the infrastructural problems addressed, it’s time to move

to other challenges -- namely boosting students’ scores at Costa Mesa

campuses.

Last year, we had mixed emotions when state education officials

released their API rankings. Those rankings, based on standardized

testing, proved one district can have vastly different results.

Newport Beach elementary schools were in the top percentile with

Andersen Elementary in Corona del Mar the shining example. Its test

scores came in at a district-high 933, first in the county and 14th in

the state.

But while that is plenty of reason to rejoice and commend Andersen

students and parents, there was also cause for concern.

Not one Costa Mesa school reached the state’s target score of 800

points, with Whittier Elementary hovering at the bottom.

That campus, largely populated with non-English-speaking students,

scored 443 on the rankings, a near 500-point difference from Andersen.

The difficulty the district faces is clear. The differences in culture

and in language are steep barriers to overcome. And Whittier and other

Costa Mesa schools did fare better when compared to similar campuses.

But more needs to be done.

The new standardized testing launched by the district this year is one

major step, and the effort should be applauded. But there must be more

creative options out there to boost academics.

If the same energy and passion that went into passing the school bond

could be applied to raising the educational standards in some of our

lesser performing schools, even greater miracles than the bond’s passage

could be performed.

So as local schools move toward a bright and shiny new look, we should

remember the old adage:

It’s what’s on the inside that counts.