Santa Ana Unified Takes Its Message to Cable TV

So “60 Minutes” it’s not. The Nielsen ratings folks will never know it exists and come Emmy time, it surely won’t be a contender.

Still, the Santa Ana Unified School District now has a news magazine, called “Education First.” With three segments under its belt, it is the latest effort of the county’s largest school system to educate not only the students but the entire community.

“To accomplish our mission here, we have got to have the parents; we have got to have the community support, and this show serves to bring people in closer to us,” said Bob Jones, director of communications for the district.

Broadcast on cable Channel 55, but with no regular time slot, the first segment featured Supt. Al Mijares. Subsequent shows have included a feature on John Muir Fundamental School, a spot on the district’s need for musical instruments and a campaign on pedestrian safety, with Walk Your Child to School Day.

Some production problems have slowed program scheduling, but ultimately the district intends for “Education First” to run weekly.

Segments run first in English, then Spanish. The program costs about $65,000 a year to produce. Five staffers film, write, narrate and edit the shows, and production is completed in the television studio on the second floor of district headquarters. The district also uses its television equipment to feed educational programs to classrooms.

Equipment was donated by Pacific Bell, and use of the public-access station is free.

Many of the “Education First” themes, such as the importance of reading, are prevalent. But the show is primarily the system’s vehicle to shine.

“At a time right now when it’s more popular to find out what’s wrong everywhere, we have the greatest opportunity to tell people what’s going right with our schools,” said Della Gonzalez, spokeswoman for the district and narrator on the show.

There’s no way to tell how big an audience the fledgling show has drawn. But it has yielded results. After the segment on the need for musical instruments, nine were donated.

“As a matter of fact, I just got two violins today,” said Randy Coleman, musical director for the district. About 2,750 students are involved in bands and orchestras and because of the school system’s rapid growth, there is a constant need for flutes and clarinets, violins and trumpets. “If we keep asking, they keep dribbling in,” Coleman said.

The show also provides an opportunity for other types of campaigning.

The segment on Muir Fundamental showed parent volunteers helping in the classroom and explained the back-to-basics nature of the curriculum. It also, however, showed the school was bursting at the seams.

Last year, 300 new students enrolled in John Muir, Gonzalez narrates. To accommodate the crowd, the school has three recess periods and three lunch periods. The cafeteria prepared 8,364,143 breakfasts and lunches for students--enough to feed everyone in Vermont lunch for two weeks.

All of which was part of the district’s pitch to gain voter support for the recently approved $145-million bond issue to build 13 new schools. The show ran before the election. “When you pass a bond issue it affects every single taxpayer, and TV keeps even those who never see the inside of a school informed,” Gonzalez said.