Why elections by district are best

For San Diego's North County Times

Escondido residents who believe government that's closest to the people governs best should favor district representation on their city council. Eliminating at-large positions would also save the city from having to pay a high profile Orange County attorney $350 an hour to fight a lawsuit that claims its at-large elections violates the California Voting Rights Act.

Mayor Sam Abed told this newspaper he believed district elections would hurt Latinos by isolating them geographically and economically. He worries that "districts would pit neighborhood versus neighborhood and whites versus Hispanics."

Councilmember Olga Diaz disagrees. She pointed to the advantage of having council members with more expertise on the needs of local neighborhoods. She also suggested reducing the cost of running for office would open leadership opportunities to a wider community.

Opinions appearing on this page about district elections have been mostly negative. One of my community columnist colleagues resorted to a straw man argument when he claimed someone elected from an "ethnically gerrymandered" district would be an "illegitimate officeholder," deeming the election unconstitutional. That would be true only if districts were drawn solely by ethnicity, rather than geography.

Mayor Abed's claim that it "makes no sense to divide a relatively small community," is questionable when you consider the city's demographics. Escondido, with its population of 145,000, 46 percent Latino, is the state's 38th largest city.

Residents in the city's 92025 ZIP code, city center/south, differ from those residing in the city's three other ZIP codes by income and home ownership more than skin color (source: city-data.com). Latinos compose a slight majority of its 64,000 residents. The median household income is $45,000, with 21 percent below the poverty level. Fifty-five percent are renters.

By comparison, Latinos are in the minority in each of the three other ZIP codes. The median household income ranges from $51,000 to $74,000, with only 7 to 10 percent below poverty level and only 24 to 36 percent renters.

The needs and interests of those living in ZIP 92025 are likely to be far different from those living in the three other areas. I wonder how many council members, past and present, have resided there. But the sizable range in income and home ownership in the three other areas also suggests a similar range of positions on city issues.

The word "compromise" has become a dirty word in politics. But here's one, for what it's worth. District elections by ZIP code, slightly modified to equalize populations, while keeping the mayor's position at-large, would reduce the cost of running for office, increase the likelihood of a more diverse council, bring city government closer to the people, and save taxpayers from a million-dollar court battle.

When schools close...

For San Diego's North County Times

Preparing for an expected $8 million budget shortfall next year, Carlsbad school officials are considering the closure of two schools that are substantially more costly to operate per pupil than other district schools because of their low enrollments.

Abandoning Buena Vista Elementary and Carlsbad Village Academy would save the district an estimated $1 million.

Before the schools are closed, parents will want to know how that can be done with the least disruption to their children's learning and the family's home-to-school transportation. A closer look at each school reveals how using a rigid per-pupil cost savings formula for short-term cuts could lead to a loss of educational opportunities in the long term for a vulnerable student population.

Both schools are located within the city's 92008 ZIP code, where the $51,000 median household income is lowest in the city. Forty-four percent of Buena Vista students and 47 percent of Carlsbad Village Academy students qualify for free or reduced lunch. Districtwide, only 22 percent of students are from low-income families. While 84 percent of school district parents are college educated, only 53 percent of Carlsbad Village Academy parents have ever attended college.

The picture here is clear. The two schools being considered for closure serve a socioeconomic population whose statewide student test scores in English and math have lagged from 10 to 15 percentage points behind those of their more well-to-do peers. The achievement gap between haves and have-nots has remained unchanged in the 10 years since comparative test scores have been tracked.

But Buena Vista's economically disadvantaged students buck the trend, scoring higher on the 2011 STARS tests than disadvantaged students districtwide. Sixty-seven percent of the school's disadvantaged fifth-graders were grade-level proficient in English, 68 percent in math. Only 59 percent of similar students districtwide were proficient in English, 58 percent in math.

Carlsbad Village Academy is a continuation high school that enables students who fall behind to make up credits required for high school graduation. Its small size allows for individualized instruction for students whose academic progress has been hindered by illness, unplanned pregnancies, or behavioral problems.

Only about 300 students would be affected by closing these two schools. That's less than 4 percent of the district's 8,500 students. While the pain of a million-dollar budget cut would be confined to this small group, it's sad to see schools on the chopping block that are doing so much good for families who need them most.

But don't blame Carlsbad school officials for having to balance the books on the backs of the most vulnerable. Closing schools is not just a local issue. California's November election results will tell what's to become of schools like these.

Maybe jobs aren't fleeing California

For San Diego's North County Times

My grandparents left Krasna, Bessarabia, Russia a hundred years ago, joining a flood of German immigrants to North Dakota. My parents headed west from there, making Washington State their new home. My career led me from Washington to Indiana, then back west again to California.

I thought of my Midwestern roots and our several job-related family relocations when I learned of the South Dakota governor's recent attempts to entice local businesses to move to his state. On a morning TV news quiz, I learned blizzards in the Midwest can carry wind-chill temperatures of minus-60 degrees. When asked about the weather, the governor replied, "There is no bad weather in South Dakota, only inappropriate clothing."

Conventional wisdom has it that businesses are driven out of California because of high taxes and burdensome regulations, ruining the state's economy by causing a massive loss of jobs. The media capitalize on this politically popular credo with stories designed to support the theory.

But the only independent, objective and nonpartisan report I found on the issue reveals a far different picture. Businesses are, indeed, moving to other states, but not nearly in the numbers implied by those with political axes to grind. The Public Policy Institute of California's 2010 report, "Business Location Decisions and Employment Dynamics in California," cited a 15-year study indicating that relocation causes a smaller share of jobs gained and lost in California than in most other states.

From 1992 through 2006, the thousands of jobs moving into and out of California resulted in an annual net loss of only 0.05 percent of the state's 18 million jobs. California, in fact, ranks below the national average in job losses due to business relocations. South Dakota, on the other hand, ranks fifth highest in jobs lost through relocations, at 3.6 percent of their workforce annually over the same period.

Maybe that explains the governor's North County visit.

Ignoring the facts, politicians blame California's low ranking in business friendliness for our slumping economy, pointing to reports like this year's CNBC's, "America's Top States for Business," which ranks California 47th in the cost of doing business.

So why aren't more Golden State companies fleeing to fly-over country? Maybe because California ranks first in the nation in access to capital and technology/innovation, while South Dakota ranks 35th and 49th respectively. Maybe companies like San Diego's little 1989 startup now known as Qualcomm are willing to accept higher costs of doing business in exchange for larger profits and greater potential for growth.

And don't forget the governor's observation about the need to invest in fashionable South Dakota wind-chill attire.

Trickle down or trickle up school reform?

For San Diego's North County Times

Say what you will about Occupy Wall Street, it has focused our attention on the sharp rise in income inequality over the last 10 years. Since facts are facts, on that we can all agree. Where we disagree is what to make of it. That depends on whether you're a believer in trickle-down or trickle-up economics.

 

There's the same disconnect in public opinion about educational inequality. We agree that family income is the best predictor of a student's success in school. Children from low-income families are mostly left behind. Where we disagree is what to do about it ---- fix our public schools, or give up on them.

 

In California, No Child Left Behind and charter schools were intended to improve learning through school accountability, free-market competition and parental choice. But test scores show they've done nothing to narrow the achievement gap separating students by family income. This year's standardized-testing results show only 42 percent of economically disadvantaged students are proficient in grade-level math, compared with 62 percent of the non-disadvantaged.

 

That 20-point spread has remained unchanged since testing began in 2003. Proficiency in math leads to jobs with better pay, which may explain the vicious cycle of educational and income inequality.

 

The legislative intent of California's 1992 Charter Schools Act was to "Increase learning opportunities for all, with special emphasis on expanded learning experiences for pupils who are identified as academically low achieving."

 

North County's 17 charter schools enroll 10 percent of students in their sponsoring school districts but only 5 percent of the districts' disadvantaged students.

 

The only charter school to enroll more low-income students than its sponsoring district is Vista's North County Trade Tech High, with 68 percent compared with 61 percent districtwide. It is a charter school that lives up to its promise, focusing on students who've been left behind in larger, traditional schools.

 

Its success can be measured by impressive test-score improvements and a project learning, "many paths to success," hands-on curriculum that ranges from college prep to training for construction trades.

 

A group of Oceanside parents is now lobbying for a local campus of San Bernardino's Oxford Preparatory Academy. The charter school opened in 2010 in Chino Valley, where 40 percent of local school district students are economically disadvantaged. According to Oxford Prep's 2011 Academic Performance Report, only two of the 683 students tested are disadvantaged.

 

Ninety-three percent of Oxford parents attended college. Forty-four percent are college graduates, and another 28 percent attended graduate school.

If you favor trickle-down school reform, this San Bernardino charter school's for you. If you're a trickle-up advocate, look no further than North County Trade Tech High.

Senior bullying

For San Diego's North County Times

In my last column I praised Escondido High School for the bottom line on their sexual harassment policy: "Sexual harassment is based upon the impact on the victim. It is not based on the intentions of the perpetrator."

I thought of that last week when I stood in line at the checkout stand of our local grocery store. No, I didn't see sexual harassment there. I watched a woman, looking to be in her late 70s, subjected to elderspeak, a kind of unintended bullying of seniors.

"Hello, how are you today?" a standard cashier's greeting, spoken at normal speed and volume before eye contact.

Then, after her customer struggles with the payment keypad, the clerk notices who she is and raises her voice, speaking more slowly, word by word. "Can I help you, dear," she asks. "You have to press the button with the little green arrow on it after you put in your number. Here, dear, let me do it for you. Can you tell me your phone number, dear?"

Judging from the look on her face during the cashier's overly solicitous efforts to help her enter her telephone number, identifying her as a shopper's club member, eligible for discounts, what the lady probably heard was: "You're old, hard of hearing, and have a failing mind. So I'll speak to you as I would a child."

Finally, as a reward for taking her receipt, the older lady gets a patronizing farewell: "Now, you have a good afternoon, dear."

The fundamental assumption behind elderspeak is that older people are cognitively impaired, needing "help," and must be spoken to very slowly and loudly. To paraphrase Escondido High's sexual harassment policy, the impact of elderspeak on an older person depends on what is heard, not on the speaker's good intentions.

I'm guessing the lady who'd been publicly humiliated didn't file a complaint. If she had, the cashier would probably tell her boss she was just trying to help a grumpy old lady and promise to be even "sweeter" to her next elderly customer.

Yale University professor Becca Levy says of elderspeak: "Those little insults can lead to more negative images of aging, and those who have more negative images of aging have worse functional health over time, including lower rates of survival." Her survey of 660 people over 50 in a small Ohio town found those with positive perceptions of aging lived an average of 7.5 years longer, exceeding the beneficial effects of exercising or not smoking.

Store managers who value their older customers should train their sales clerks to drop the sweet-talking belittlement of elderspeak and replace it with simple friendliness and common courtesy.

Sexual harassment in schools

For San Diego's North County Times

The week after Herman Cain launched his "nein, nein, nein" campaign denying sexual harassment allegations, Penn State fired its legendary football coach as a result of a grand jury report alleging that his former assistant coach engaged in a decade of sexual assaults on young boys.

What didn't make the news was a report by the American Association of University Women, "Crossing the Line: Sexual Harassment at School," of findings from a nationwide survey of 2,000 students in grades 7 to 12.

Schoolyard taunting may not be as newsworthy as workplace harassment and child predators, but the same code of silence hides the pain of isolation and self-doubt that's led to teen suicides after sexual harassment at school.

According to the AAUW report, nearly half of students surveyed experienced some form of sexual harassment in one year. Although 87 percent said it had a negative effect on them, only 9 percent reported it to a teacher or counselor. Just 12 percent felt their school did a good job of addressing the problem.

Students suggested online resources could help schools reduce sexual harassment, so I was disappointed to find many local schools don't have links to codes of conduct on their website homepages.

Carlsbad High School's can be found by a link to a student handbook that is available only on the district's website. To find Oceanside High School's sexual harassment policy, you have to hunt through a lengthy list of board policies, accessible only from a link on the district's website. Not exactly a student- or parent-friendly process.

The helpfulness of information about how to recognize and respond to sexually harassing behavior also varies in quality by school.

Escondido's Classical Academies charter school defines sexual harassment in its list of unacceptable behaviors, but does not include how to report it and what the punishment will be for violators. The school defines bullying as "repeated physical, verbal and/or emotional harassment," tells how it should be reported, and describes the punishment for it.

Sexual harassment is a kind of bullying, but it is not necessarily a repeated behavior, nor do harassers choose victims the same way bullies do. Students may be reluctant to come forward with reports of sexual harassment if it isn't as threatening to them as other kinds of bullying.

Poway High School and Escondido High School have exemplary policies, easily accessible from their home pages.

Poway's is exceptionally comprehensive and clear. Escondido's lists freedom from harassment as a student right, describes the difference between flirting and harassment, and concludes with the best advice of all, "Sexual harassment is based upon the impact on the victim. It is not based on the intentions of the perpetrator."