Thu. Dec 26th, 2024

SAUSD poor performing schools

Never mind the problems at Spurgeon Intermediate.  The situation at the SAUSD is much worse.  An inside soruce tells me that there was a meeting this week for parents of elementary schoolchildren. The district wanted to inform the parents that they will be getting rid of Honors classes.  Students will either have to be in AP classes or in standard classes that will throw everyone in one room, from those achieving at the elementary level to those who would normally be in Honors classes. And this is coming our way in middle school as well.

I have supported SAUSD Superintendent Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana, since she arrived here in Santa Ana, however she seems to be perfectly willing to turn low income kids into guinea pigs for every whim in education that suits her own political and/or egotistical purposes.

Remember that survey that came out stating that teachers were 90% (or some number like that, it was in the Register recently) in favor of Common Core?  Well it was the result of a survey given to about 30 teachers at an in-service meeting.  The highest level district administrators roamed the room while the survey was given, peaking over everyone’s shoulders.

It would appear that the SAUSD Superintendent has an agenda and it really couldn’t be any worse than it is right now in this district.

The teacher’s union president, Susan Mercer, reportedly told all of her reps that the relationship with the district has officially gone from “collaborative” to “adversarial” in the last week after multiple attempts to deal with Melendez de Santa Ana.

I am told that everyone has given up.  She does not hold to anything she states she will do and she continues to alienate the staff at many schools.

The teachers are all prepared for a big fight right now and we are going to see a lot of push back coming from them soon.

The biggest fear right now is that Melendez de Santa Ana is going to undermine the only schools that still function well in Santa Ana – our Fundamental schools.  They are now in serious danger.  She really doesn’t yet know who she is dealing with as the teachers and parents involved in our Fundamental schools are not going to sit around and take it.

The district is cutting us off the Fundamental teachers at the knees in expecting them to keep disruptive students indefinitely while hundreds of kids remain on waiting lists and probably thousands of parents of intermediate kids who are now considering taking their children outside of the district, because there is no space at Mendez and MacArthur.

I have already made my decision.  My employer is moving to Irvine.  When my son finishes his time at Muir Fundamental Elementary we are out of here.  I am not going to let him sink at the SAUSD.

You have school options too:

  • Santa Ana has quite a few charter schools that operate independently of the SAUSD
  • The Catholic, Lutheran and some other Protestant/Evangelical churches operate private schools.  If you are a church member they offer discounts and scholarships
  • If you work in another city you can register your child in that city
  • If worse comes to worse you can use a relative’s address, who lives in a city with a better school district, and get your child out of the SAUSD
  • I believe that state law also allows you to remove kids from failing schools, and we have a lot of those in Santa Ana

I have raised all of my four kids in our local public schools.  One of them is now at UCLA.  He earned the highest GPA in the SAUSD when he graduated a couple years ago.  My daughter graduated from a fundamental program at Santa Ana High School. She then graduated from FIDM and is now working in fashion design at the Gap.  I have a son at Godinez Fundamental High School and my youngest son, who I referenced earlier in this post, is a GATE student at Muir Fundamental Elementary.

My kids are all high achievers.  Our fundamental schools served them well.  Alas if those schools are now going down too, then we have to do what is right for our families and get our kids out of here. This brain drain will be very damaging to the SAUSD but clearly that is what the SAUSD’s administrators and our School Board Trustees have earned. They made this mess and I don’t think they can fix it.

author avatar
Art Pedroza Editor
Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

By Art Pedroza

Our Editor, Art Pedroza, worked at the O.C. Register and the OC Weekly and studied journalism at CSUF and UCI. He has lived in Santa Ana for over 30 years and has served on several city and county commissions. When he is not writing or editing Pedroza specializes in risk control and occupational safety. He also teaches part time at Cerritos College and CSUF. Pedroza has an MBA from Keller University.

5 thoughts on “Is it time to take our kids out of the SAUSD’s public schools?”
  1. The fundamental schools have been going downhill for sometime. There is no committment from the parents. They now think they have “won the lottery”! The district will no longer uphold the policies created by the partnership of the school and the parents. If children are on the waiting list, give it up. They will not be getting in unless a lot of people move. Even if the child does get in the fundamental schools are so over-crowded that they are only slightly glorified neighborhood schools that you have to drive your child to each day.

  2. This is NOTHING new.

    Todays college Freshman (including the Voice Of OC’s Nick Gerda) faced a huge challenge (at least those from Floral Park) ten years ago:

    SAUSD elementary schools are K-5 (A HORRIBLE MODEL FOR A IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY). At the time Senator Joe Dunn’s daughter Sara was facing Willard. He arranged to have a “special” trial sixth grade at Santiago ES. A class with …..SIX yes six kids, a relators kid a wealthy contributor, a doctor’s son and two latin shills).

    Unfortunately, the rest of the city didn’t have Dunns pull, so the North Santa Ana crowd moved to Brea, Tustin, Holy Family and any place else.

    A group of crazies made their own school (NOW El Sol). Even Pulido was smart enough to jump ship on that one.

    The point is: SAUSD needs to create a k-6, 7-9 and 10-12 model. it’s what the population requires.

    fewer than half of 9th graders graduate. fewer than 25% of them have a tenth grade reading level.

    TIME FOR CHANGE. START BY PUTTING PARENTS ON THE SCHOOL BOARD!

    1. Boy you’re right about the School Board. Palacio, Noji and Richardson in particular have been there too long and need to go.

  3. I’m confused as to how a K-6, 7-9, 10-12 structure would really change anything. Ninth graders receive high school credit and it is quite difficult to set up a credit structure in the middle school. I agree that nothing has changed and this is why Santiago is now a K-8 school, several other elementary schools are changing to this structure from what I have heard but from my perspective this is simply a reaction to the unsustainable situation in which the waiting lists at the fundamentals (and the school of the “crazies”, as you put it, El Sol) are huge. Kids do not stay in the district if they are high achieving and from middle to upper middle class homes.

    1. Nor should they at this point. The district does not deserve high achieving kids. We cannot trust the district to properly educate our kids.

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