ON THE TOWN:Schools need innovators, not gatekeepers

There is in the U.S. an education establishment that seeks to resist change and preserve the status quo. This establishment has become a very large and lucrative economy that relies almost exclusively on grabbing as many of your tax dollars as possible.

In California, for example, the single largest budget item is education.

This establishment cannot wage war, but beyond that there are similarities to the military-industrial complex that former president Dwight Eisenhower warned about on his way out of office.

I am far from the first person to advance this theory.

Here in Newport-Mesa, the education establishment is well represented in part by two members of the board of trustees who are up for reelection.

Over a combined service of 38 years, Judy Franco (26 years) and Serene Stokes (12 years), have served the education establishment well. Consider:

1. Despite several promising initial efforts by groups presenting proposals to the board, the district still does not have a charter school, a concept needed in both Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. Witnessing one presentation earlier this year, I was shocked to see that neither Franco nor Stokes asked a single question of the presenters when they finished. To be fair, it should be noted that none of their colleagues asked any questions, but none of their colleagues is up for reelection this year. If past behavior is an indicator of future performances, it is safe to assume that as long as Franco and Stokes are on the board, there will be substantial resistance to the concept. School boards, you see, don’t always like charter schools. Charter schools mean more work and more thinking. Charter schools also operate more or less on their own, a concept that frightens most insecure bureaucrats, who strongly resist giving up power.

2. Quick! Name any history of any significance, however short, of any substantive innovations that have been initiated by Franco or Stokes. You probably cannot because Franco and Stokes are not innovators — they are gatekeepers.

3. The Franco-Stokes legacy will not be one of advancement through innovation, or even of judicious spending of your hard-earned tax dollars, but of taxing and spending. Any attempt to spin the current wave of construction improvements in our schools as an achievement should be identified for what it really is: Catch-up for years of neglect by the school board.

4. Throughout their tenures, Franco and Stokes have consciously avoided the pages of this newspaper to engage in any substantial discussion of important school issues. Throughout two campaigns to raise and spend almost a half a billion dollars of your taxes, I cannot recall a single word offered by either Franco or Stokes to support their position. Both times, they were content to let others do the talking for them. In a position where constant communication is critical, their silence has been deafening.

But the ultimate reminder of how much Franco and Stokes represent the old way was their failure to support the removal of their former colleague, Jim Ferryman, after he was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol in 2002.

Circling the wagons around one of their own, Franco said of the board’s position, “I think the board handled it in the best way possible, which was to recognize the fact that Jim is an elected official, that it was his decision to make as to how he handled his own personal issues, as well as his position on the board.”

A “personal issue.” Well, so much for the role-model concept. Stokes also supported Ferryman in his bid to stay on the board.

What Franco and Stokes did was all but trash the district’s zero tolerance policy. After all, a parent could ask, how can you kick my kid out of school when you didn’t even kick a trustee off the school board? This was a very bad message to send to our students.

Voters should not expect that a vote for the challengers to Franco and Stokes will break the establishment stranglehold on meaningful progress in our schools. What your votes for those candidates will do is prevent us from living one definition of insanity, that is, electing the same people over and over again hoping for a different result.

Your vote for a fresh face will establish your desire for stronger, proactive leadership.

Your vote for a challenger will say that you are no longer willing to tolerate the status quo; that you’d rather have a different set of eyes on the school issues we face.

Your vote for a challenger will show that you are a forward-thinker, a pioneer and an innovator, which are the qualities your school board needs more than ever.

Do yourself a huge favor and head over to the Environmental Nature Center tomorrow for its annual Fall Faire. You’ll find a pumpkin patch, games, gift ideas and my favorite, a silent auction. It’s next to Newport Harbor High School on 16th Street near Dover Drive.