West Covina's Great Ed Reform

19 Sep, 2010 by CalWatchdog Staff

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Steven Greenhut: Per the San Gabriel Valley Tribune:

“WEST COVINA – Board members supportive of a new district policy are confident that West Covina Unified can maintain enrollment despite new guidelines that allow any student to transfer to other districts. The Board of Education last month voted 3-2 to approve a resolution that would grant all transfer requests.”

This is a great freedom-friendly, parent-friendly reform and something that will make an actual difference in the schools. The board has said that it is confident enough in its own schools that it’s not going to fight it if parents want to transfer their kids to another district. I heard about this from school board President Mike Spence, who also works as chief of staff for Republican Assemblyman Curt Hagman.

I laughed heartily at the quotation from board member Jessica Shewmaker, who opposed this reform. Here she is speaking to the Tribune:

One of the things parents always look at when they purchase a home is a school district,” Shewmaker said. “You do have the right. You have the right to move into whatever district that fits your student’s needs. That’s to me where your choice comes from.”

Spoken like a Soviet bureaucrat.

West Covina officials ought to be thanking the school board for this vote. When a district allows tranfers, it encourages people to move to a city. It encourages the revitalization of old neighborhoods. I recall wanting to move to an old area of Anaheim where I could have bought a cool old house — but then I checked out the school system. Yikes! I moved to the suburbs instead.

Kudos to Spence (who is a freedom fighter in most areas) and to the school board majority.