'We Must Show Every Child the Light'

'In Another World'

My son is one of the three kids sitting there [in the photograph of the algebra class], and I have kids just like everyone else and I think the teachers need to start looking to see where the problem is. Why is there a child sleeping? Why? There should not be a reason unless the class is overcrowded and the teacher cannot meet their needs. I am planning to go to the school. This is the last couple of years of high school [for my son]. Now I can see why my son has headaches. I would too. Everyone seems like they're in another world or just don't care. I know what it is to be a dropout and how life has treated me. I don't know where to start, but I'll be damned if that will happen to my son. Thank you. Sometimes we need media to see what is happening to our youth.

— JOANIE

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'Other Competencies'

Why don't we stop pretending that every student is the same? Some students may not be able (or willing) to handle courses that focus primarily on abstract and linguistic skills. Many may not be able to finish a program in four years. Why can't we have a variety of baccalaureate exams based on clearly articulated world standards? Why can't we offer college-bound diplomas as well as diplomas that celebrate other competencies? I understand that if we really began to deal with this kind of diversity, it would be expensive, but don't tell me we can't afford it. Haven't we spent nearly $300 billion on that illegal and unnecessary war in Iraq? Don't we spend, more or less, $30,000 a year on high-security inmates, many of whom read at a fifth-grade level?

— JIM MAMER

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'At Their Own Speed'

Sympathizing with the many students who find math difficult in high school, I can't help but wonder why more math teachers haven't adapted the approach my high school math teacher utilized 30 years ago. Students were allowed to progress at their own speed by turning in the assigned homework/classwork at their own speed and then, when they felt ready, taking the chapter test and retaking it until they passed at a highly proficient level before progressing to the next chapter. The student's grade in the class was based on how far along the student progressed, and students were informed at the beginning of the semester what chapter they would need to reach in order to obtain a C, B or A in the class. The vast majority of us passed with a B or better, and certainly none of us had the problem of progressing to a point where we were hopelessly lost!

— CHARLOTTE

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'Identifying Aptitudes'

The dropout problem is a difficult and complex problem. One thing that would undoubtedly help is identifying aptitudes and interests of students in the middle-school years and counseling students into experiences and programs which meet and strengthen those abilities at the high school level. Vocational programs should include pre-apprenticeship, job shadowing and on-the-work experience programs. There are many kinds of intelligence. Academics taps only a few of our abilities. We must offer an education program for all students, not just the academically talented.

— LOUIS ROSEN

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'Give a Voucher'

What the school system needs is competition. Give a voucher to every legal student in the LAUSD system and let him or her apply to any public not private school he or she wants to attend. In other words, a student from Crenshaw can apply to Beverly Hills High School and can attend it if he or she wants to.