State schools superintendent visits Modesto's Mark Twain Junior High

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson came to Modesto's Mark Twain Junior High on Wednesday morning.

The day's focus for Torlakson was to stress the need to pass President Barack Obama's American Jobs Act. The legislation would bring $4.5 million to Modesto City Schools to fix up its older campuses, plus an unknown amount for teacher salaries, he said.

The legislation lost to a Senate filibuster Tuesday, but Torlakson said parts of it — including funding for school maintenance — could still move forward.

Modesto was chosen as the site for a news conference because of its Central Valley location and large numbers of low-income students attending schools in need of repairs, said California Department of Education Communications Division Director Paul Hefner. "Unfortunately, it's not hard at all to find school facilities that need modernizing," Hefner said.

The jobs act tied funding for facilities to having a high number of low-income students. More than 19 out of 20 Mark Twain students meet that mark, Principal Mike Berhorst said. The west-side campus has 753 students.

State and local dignitaries, and Modesto City Schools officials added up to dozens of business suit-attired adults talking and tromping down the school's 60-year-old halls.

Torlakson visited the math class of teacher John Fountain, where students with remotes picked multiple choice answers on an interactive white screen on the front wall. Next, he stepped into a world history class where Melinda Cogburn's students were reading paragraphs aloud from well-thumbed and crumple-cornered textbooks.

The superintendent also got a tour of the Ag in Motion mobile classroom, where seventh-graders in Tommie Lacoste-Stedman's life sciences class were filtering out strawberry DNA.

The noisy entourage passed near a World War II-vintage Quonset hut used for storage, some patched blacktop and halls lined with drafty windows that leak heat provided by the school's original boiler. The school also suffers from dry rot and needs air conditioning, restroom and roof repairs, said district officials.

The tour ended with a news conference in the 1960s-era gym, with its original floor and wooden bleachers. Modesto Superintendent Pam Able introduced speakers against the backdrop of a spirit flag and bullet holes still gaping in the gym wall from a nighttime shooting several years ago.

"Those modernization funds would be put to good use in Modesto City Schools," Able said. She added that 32 of the district's 34 campuses would qualify for fix-up dollars.

The district dedicated its facilities dollars to building Enochs and Gregori high schools. Trustees will decide later this month whether to use the last of its borrowed building dollars for a stadium at Gregori or fixes at older campuses — or to return the money.

In the Mark Twain gym, Torlakson pointed to the posted character trait "Respect" and said Washington should give more respect to education. "It's about building a brighter future for our kids, but also about the buildings we teach in," he said.

"Our message is simple: the time to create jobs is now, and the place to create them is right here — at Mark Twain Junior High — and at schools just like it all across California," Torlakson said. "I think this piece is the most important piece … This is not a partisan issue. this is a partnership issue," he said.

State Assemblyman Bill Berryhill, R-Ceres, agreed with the need for bipartisanship. "We will lose a generation of kids if we don't continue to use our limited dollars for education," Berryhill said, advocating "much-needed funding to transform this 60-year-old school into a 21st century learning center."

Torlakson urged parents to speak up. "Partnership with parents is critical," he said, pointing out a PTA representative at the event.

Kathryn Cross, a California State PTA vice president, said parent leaders statewide see school funding as a top priority and PTA volunteers lobby year round for kids causes in Sacramento.

Bee education reporter Nan Austin can be reached at naustin@modbee.com or (209) 578-2339.