Uncovering Dirt

February 9, 2000

Dear Editor,

Hmmm… who could it be? Sounds as if "The Dirt" is entertaining. So are People Magazine, The National Enquirer, and Soap Opera Digest. (And I'm not being judgmental here; I regularly peruse two of three of the above. But no prize to whomever can figure out which two.)

Regarding your speculation: it might not be a heavily edited reporter -- it could be a savvy writer having fun throwing in typos and ungrammatical phrases!

However, if the author of "The Dirt" is thinking about running for elected office, he (or she) will have to change his ways. As a candidate, it will be his (or her) obligation to identify himself as the source of the message. I suppose he (or she) could refuse to sign the good campaign practices pledge -- but that would tell us something about his ethics. And if elected to City Council he (or she) would have to abide, both in spirit and practice, to the Brown Act, the State's "sunshine" law which requires that all actions taken by Council be publicly noticed, and deliberated and decided in public (except for a few types of items such as litigation and personnel matters which can be discussed in closed session).

On another front, kudos to the Lookout for your professional reportorial standards! In the recent story "Board Rejects Project" Boardmember Iris Olveras' affiliation with the Lookout's parent company was identified. One doesn't loose her (or his) right to free speech when in an elected or appointed position, but one does have a higher standard of openness and accountability.

Pam O'Connor
Santa Monica City Councilmember (and Mayor Pro Tem)

February 8, 2000

Dear Editor,

I did it! I wrote the Dirt. I am so happy to finally reveal my identity. It was exhausting keeping it a secret.

And how fortuanate that I love German Food! Yes it was me.....you found me

Submisively
Jason Clark

February 7, 2000

Dear C Castle,

If "The Dirt" is full of misspellings, grammatical errors and typos, it must
have come from the proofreader over at the Mirror.

Bill Bauer
Santa Monica

February 7, 2000

Dear Editor,

I'd be willing to accept dinner with two Germans at the One Pico Restaurant. But you are going to have a lot of dinners to buy.

Here is my clue leading to disclosure: Ask the male members of the School Board. One of them has more info.

Dr. Watson
Santa Monica

February 14, 2000

Dear Editor,

There is no way that Mr. or Mrs. Holbrook would send a letter without
signing the letter.

It seems to me that these "high officials" would like to think that only
two people would have something to say about the Santa Monica "LEADERS," and I am sure it will come as a surprise to these "leaders," that many of us would love to tell them what "we" think of them, but than again, these leaders are not worth spending our time on them!

Maria Sirotti
Santa Monica

Preserve the Art Work

February 9, 2000

Dear Editor,
I agree with the opponents to the project. This work of art is typical of a period in Southern California art and should be preserved.

Bruria Finkel
Santa Monica

School Funding

February 9, 2000

Dear Editor and School Board members:

My name is Silvia Llosa, an 8th grader at John Adams Middle School. I have recently been told that the Santa Monica School District is having a big financial problem and that a couple of school programs, activities, and workers will be cut and will not be here next year.

I urge you to consider not cutting #51 which are music aids and #64 which will reorganize elemetary music programs. I went to Clover Elementary School when I was small and it did not have a instrument program. Students in Santa Monica elementary schools had the chance and should countinue to have the chance to explore music.

I lost two valuable years in which I could have been playing the viola and become a better musician. I want students to have the oppotunity of exploring all forms of music because they diserve it and it would be waste.

Mrs. Woo is a great music teacher .She teaches many students so she needs all the help she can get. Please don't cut the two teachers. Mrs.Woo really needs. It would effect Mrs. Woo and especially the students because they help us while Mrs. Woo is busy with something else.

Thank you for listening to what I have to say and please consider not cutting every thing that is important to many students.

Silvia Llosa
John Adams Middle School

February 9, 2000

Dear Editor and School Board members,

I am a sixth grader at John Adams Middle School. Please, please, PLEASE don't cut the middle school music aids. I can't even explain how important they are to our music education.

There are 94 students in my music class, and if my teacher, Ms. Woo, had to stop the whole class every time one person had a problem with their instrument, we would never learn anything. Our music aids, Mr. Hamilton and Mr. McKeown, help us when we have problems with our instruments, and can also take us away from class to practice separately when we are having a hard time with something. With them here, we can split up into sections for half of the class so that we get more help and attention, and then we come back and practice for the rest of class together.

Our class is very concerned about the fact that you might cut item #51 and we have discussed it in class often. We are all concerned about this; my
teacher and many of my classmates are also writing to you.

Thank you, and please take my opinion into consideration.

Sincerely,

Riley Franks
John Adams Middle School

February 9, 2000

Dear Editor and Board Members,

Please consider saving item #51 that would eliminate The JAMS and Lincoln Instrumental assistats. I have at least four good reasons that you shouldn't cut this Item.

The first reason is that I belong to the JAMS Symphonic band which has at least 94 students, and in case of an emergency our teacher, Ms.Woo, couldn't handle us without the help of someone.

The second reason is that some times we have trouble with values or something is wrong with our instruments and instead of disturbing our teacher Ms.Woo and the whole class, we go to Mr.Halminton or Mr.McKeown.

The third reason is that when a section has problems on a piece we break up into groups and we fix it faster.

The fourth reason is that when Ms.Woo is not there we have someone that we know knows a lot about music and that we already know.

Thanks for your time,

Oscar E. Mayen
Lincoln School

February 10, 2000

Dear School Board Members and Other Concerned People,

I am a student in the seventh grade at John Adams Middle School, and I
play and perform in the Symphony Orchestra. Please do not cut number 51
("Middle School Music Aids"). These assistants are very important to our
music program. As a student, I know how important these aids are to our
program.

Most importantly, they are necessary for reasons of safety. Our Symphony
Orchestra is a very large group, and should there be a disaster, Miss Woo (who is the director of instrumental music at John Adams and our conductor) would have difficulty getting us all out to safety alone. The assistants would be important in keeping us all safe in the case of this type of emergency.

Music aids also provide assistance to Miss Woo during our rehearsals. At
times, a problem arises (for example, a string pops on someone's violin, or they need to go to the nurse). Miss Woo could do this, but it would interrupt our rehearsal. If we did not have aids to help us when these kinds of things happened, our rehearsals would be interrupted.

Backstage, the music aids are important in preparing us during a concert. When Miss Woo is conducting another group, they can do important things before we perform, such as: tuning, last minute instrument repairs, and leading us out of the room to the stage. I don't know what we would do during performances without them.

Finally, when Miss Woo is absent, these aids help the substitute. Often, we have substitutes who don't know the difference between a flute and a clarinet. Although the substitute usually cannot conduct us, our aids can. If Middle School Music Aids were cut, we would be losing valuable rehearsal time.

Please do not cut this vital part of the music program! They are important for safety and student assistance during rehearsals. They also provide very necessary backstage help. At times, we need them to conduct us because Miss Woo is absent. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Etha Williams

February 11, 2000

Dear Editor and School Board members,

Hi my name is SAMUEL CHUNG from John Adams Middle School in Santa Monica.

I think you should save #51 which is Music teachers aids, my teachers name is Ms. Woo. She teaches 360 students and I think it is going to be very hard to teach 360 students alone, because there are 360 of us but only ONE Teacher to teach, and what if a string brakes, she has to stop class just to replace it and that delays class. If we have aids then she would not have to stop.

This is very important to me and all the other 360 students.

When choosing, please decide wisely,

Samuel Chung
John Adams Middle School

February 6, 2000

Dear Editor and Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District School Board Members,

Since my arrival to John Adams Middle School in 1995, the instrumental music program has grown from 280 students to a current enrollment of 360. (Just this week, a new orchestra was created to alleviate the over-crowded enrollment in our Symphony Orchestra (75 students) as well as to serve the needs of the individual students who perform at various levels of
experience.)

My teaching assignment for the past two years has been 1.2 FTE, accompanied with a 6-hour/day instructional aide position which has been filled with music majors and graduate students from UCLA. This year, an additional .4 FTE was allocated by Jerry Kantor (I'm so grateful to him) and that position has been shared by Kevin McKeown and Brian Hamilton, both masters degree candidates in conducting at UCLA.

Needless to say, the presence of certificated staff members is highly critical and imperative to the success and soundness of the John Adams music program for the following reasons:

1. SAFETY. Should an emergency arise, one teacher cannot properly oversee the safety and security of 75, 85, or 94 students in a single class (current Symphony Orchestra, Concert Band, Symphonic Band class
enrollments, respectively.) With another adult in the classroom, an unexpected circumstance can be supervised more manageably. (What if
something were to happen to me during an emergency?)

2. REHEARSAL EFFICIENCY. Within the block schedule, a 90-minute
rehearsal can be structured in a very efficient and effective manner for the students. Presently, Kevin and Brian each take half of the two largest band classes into the auditorium for 45 minutes, working on specific homogeneous techniques while I rehearse the other half in the music room. Then the two halves reunite for a combined rehearsal, incorporating the techniques just practiced. Young students appreciate and greatly benefit from the smaller, more individualized sectionals where they are able to work on specific problems.

3. INDIVIDUAL ATTENTION. During rehearsals, students occasionally
require medical attention (nurse referrals); in addition, random mechanical mishaps frequently occur with specific instruments. Students can discreetly ask the music aides for assistance without disturbing the teacher, and consequently, the rehearsal can continue without disrupting the ensemble.

4. REHEARSAL PREPARATION. Before each and every rehearsal, much preparation and planning is required for a successful class. The coping, filing, and general paperwork is overwhelming for a subject area that does not utilize textbooks or pre-printed manuals/booklets. Many of the music repertoire is out-of-print, and the preservation of the literature can only be maintained via xeroxing. Without additional staff members, one teacher assigned to 360 students would drown in the paperwork generated for the upkeep of the program. (Also, when would this teacher have the time to do lesson plans, grade papers, hold parentconferences, complete report cards, return messages, etc.?)

5. FISCAL EFFICIENCY. Currently, there are nearly 600 students enrolled in a John Adams band, orchestra, or choir and the present teaching percentages total 2.6 FTE (Woo - 1.2, Blanchard - 1.0, McKeown - .2, Hamilton - .2). If those 600 students were enrolled in any other department, wouldn't the district hire at least 5 or 6 teachers to teach those students? (600 divided by 5 class periods with an average class size of 25.)

In addition, 3 of the 4 feeder elementary schools to John Adams are
Title I schools, meaning that there are many families at JAMS who cannot afford private instruction, which means that the individualized and small group instruction provided by the music aides is essential if students are to succeed and not become discouraged and quit.

I would be happy to offer any clarification should it be necessary. I know that the task of reducing the district's financial deficit is terribly daunting, but I am very hopeful that you will continue to keep the students' educational well-being in the forefront of your arguments and decisions.

Please do not eliminate the middle school music aides (Item #51 - 2000/2001 Budget Reductions List [Level II]).

Thank you for your consideration.

Angela Woo
Director, Instrumental Music
John Adams Middle School

February 6, 2000