Local
Schools Are in Great Shape, Officials Report |
By Anita Varghese
Staff Writer
November 6 -- Education leaders who presented reports
on “The State of Our Schools” Monday night seemed pleased
with the direction of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District
and the work of its administrators.
School Board chair Kathy Wisnicki and vice chair Oscar de la Torre issued a
list of “Top 10 Reasons Santa Monica-Malibu Schools are Great” while
superintendent Dianne Talarico gave a District report card.
“We want all of our students to achieve at the highest levels and to
reach their fullest potential,” Talarico said. “We are trying to
close the achievement gap.”
An academic achievement gap exists here and in many school districts across
the United States between Caucasian, Asian and wealthy students and African
American, Hispanic and socio-economically disadvantaged students, district officials
said.
Goals that the District established for itself this year and 2008 are to build
on teamwork opportunities between administrators, Santa Monica College and nonprofit
school organizations; raise mathematics grades and test scores; boost attendance
rates, and nurture the work of a small schools task force, officials said.
Wisnicki and de la Torre said local schools are great because student achievement
scores are high and rising with local test scores exceeding California’s
statewide average.
District teachers and staff are “very highly qualified” with 60
percent holding advanced degrees compared to 39 percent of Los Angeles County
teachers and 35 percent of teachers statewide with master’s or doctorate
degrees, officials said.
Malibu, Olympic and Santa Monica High Schools collectively have a 98 percent
graduation rate, which is significantly higher than the national average.
The high schools are also more academically rigorous than many area private
schools and offer 31 different Advanced Placement courses, district officials
said. Student participation in AP courses has been rising in the past five years.
Local schools have won state and national honors such as two National Blue
Ribbons, four California Distinguished Schools and four California Honor Roll
Schools recognition, one Disney Spotlight Award and two Title I Academic Awards.
The student population reflects the diversity of Santa Monica and Malibu, two
cities that are widely known throughout the world, officials said.
Santa Monica and Malibu High Schools rank in the top 203 high schools in the
U.S. According to Newsweek magazine, both schools are among the top 1 percent
of all schools in the nation and among the top 23 high schools in California.
Arts and music programs are internationally recognized with 100 percent of
elementary school students able to study music from third grade to fifth grade
and 40 percent of those students continuing to play music in high school and
travel to Disney Concert Hall, Carnegie Hall and the Rudolphium in Prague, officials
said.
The dual immersion program at Edison Language Academy, marine science program
at Point Dume Elementary School and science magnet at John Adams Middle School
are identified as highly acclaimed and nationally unique language and science
programs.
Parent involvement and community support is unrivaled among other school districts
in the state, with 85 percent of all school-age children living in Santa Monica
and 82 percent living in Malibu attending their local public schools, officials
said.
District schools have been succeeding and doing better than other school districts
in the state despite California’s historic low funding of public school
systems, said State Assembly member Julia Brownley.
After serving 12 years on the School Board, Brownley was elected to the California
State Assembly last year and is chair of the Budget Subcommittee on Education.
According to statistics from 2005 and 2006 – the latest education data
available – California ranks 34th among 50 states in kindergarten-through-12th
grade spending per student, which is approximately $960 less per student than
the national average.
At 19 students per teacher, California ranks 48 out of 50 states in terms of
an average teacher-to-student ratio. The national average is 15 students per
teacher.
Phase two of Proposition 98, the ballot measure that allocates state lottery
funds for the public education system, begins soon and Brownley said state government
officials have called it a new source of school funding.
“We need to look at the money we have and figure out how to use it more
wisely,” Brownley said. “We can connect this money to
student outcomes and their achievement. What matters most is how
resources are directed and used.”
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