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By all accounts, a failure
1.
Did you honestly believe the NCLB notion that 100% of children could learn 100% of the time? Sounds great but it is pure baloney. 100% of humans never do anything 100% of the time.
Furthermore, in the American system, some people fail and some people win. If you want schools to graduate students who pass tests and behave, you must expect some will not behave and some will not pass tests and some of these will 'drop out'.
You can 'blame' anyone you want for this situation, however it won't change the equation. Schools with high standards results in some students 'failing'.
2. Has anyone ever given serious consideration to breaking up LAUSD into a whole flock of smaller districts? Maybe into districts made up of only one high school and the middle and elementary schools that feed it? I'm pretty sure a lot of smaller district/very local school boards would than the current MONSTER system!
3. "Lest not forget" and "Caroline" have the right theme -- create an environment wherein the child understands a self-commitment for learning and faculty that understand an obligation to lead in this cognitive development effort. And have policy makers with the guts to let educators educate and be burdened with pressure for short-term "gains" for one-time population segments. "Rigor, Relevance, Relationship" were the latest buzz words. There are a good number of teachers who have gotten it "right" and parents and students are the better for it -- let's encourage more of the same -- and pay them for it! Alumnus of Public Schools
4. We, the citizens of California have abandoned our responsibility to the future generations of California. When community members will take the time to make each community school accountable by checking what is being taught in the schools, ensuring that every dollar coming to the District for the student gets to the school, when the administration and Board members will have to fulfill the requirements of the community accountability report card...then ....only then..our teachers will have a chance to be fully supported and our children's Rights to a decent Education be reinstated.
5. This student problem. Anyone who has worked with any of the students in the LA school system could tell you the schools are not failing, the kides are! These are very needy children. They need intensive tutoring and one on one work to be able to graduate. the funds for this necessary support are just not there. Educational funds are distributed quite uniformly throughout the state. While this is fair, it will not be sufficient for these developmentally disabled children.
6. Teacher and administrator retirement is based on the same formula: years x retirement factor (based on age at retirement) x highest salary. A teacher or administrator with 30 years would retire with 72% after age 60. With 96% after 40 years. The difference is that administrators are on a higher pay scale. Teachers top out at about $75,000 for purposes of retirement; administrators start at $90,000.
7. This is not just a LAUSD problem. The whole state needs to focus on the schools and how to educate the next generation and keep California competitive. But instead, the California legislature are more concerned with banning balloons and sterilizing pets. California suffers from a complete absence of leadership.
8. Treat each child on an individual basis. Then maybe the children won't feel hopelessly another number in the faceless crowd. Remember these are human beings we are talking about.
9. Hi, Tim. I'm glad you wrote this column asking "where's the civic outrage" but you need to know who you're talking to. As I type these words, the top three posts include a person who thinks the City Counsel (sic) and our "idiot" mayor will blame Bush for this; another person thinks that stupid parents are producing stupid offspring; still another believes that the problem is one-half of the students are "Mexicaan" (sic). I'm a teacher, Tim. You want me to be accountable to these racists and ignoramuses? Forget it.
10. If these dropouts reported to school each day, where would LAUSD put them? The schools are already overcrowded, with class sizes way too high. And who would teach all these extra kids? LAUSD won't even give overstressed teachers like me the cost of living increase that was supposedly budgeted. Now we are told to "take" four furlough days next year. LAUSD is a mess, with a superintendent with no classroom experience. But let's not forget Rutten's final point about most dropouts coming from gang-infested areas. If this problem is as "intractable" as Rutten states, does LAUSD deserve all the blame if kids choose gangs over school?
Submitted by: George
2. Has anyone ever given serious consideration to breaking up LAUSD into a whole flock of smaller districts? Maybe into districts made up of only one high school and the middle and elementary schools that feed it? I'm pretty sure a lot of smaller district/very local school boards would than the current MONSTER system!
Submitted by: Jeffrey
3. "Lest not forget" and "Caroline" have the right theme -- create an environment wherein the child understands a self-commitment for learning and faculty that understand an obligation to lead in this cognitive development effort. And have policy makers with the guts to let educators educate and be burdened with pressure for short-term "gains" for one-time population segments. "Rigor, Relevance, Relationship" were the latest buzz words. There are a good number of teachers who have gotten it "right" and parents and students are the better for it -- let's encourage more of the same -- and pay them for it! Alumnus of Public Schools
Submitted by: Rudy
4. We, the citizens of California have abandoned our responsibility to the future generations of California. When community members will take the time to make each community school accountable by checking what is being taught in the schools, ensuring that every dollar coming to the District for the student gets to the school, when the administration and Board members will have to fulfill the requirements of the community accountability report card...then ....only then..our teachers will have a chance to be fully supported and our children's Rights to a decent Education be reinstated.
Submitted by: Monique CoalitionforAccountability in Ed
5. This student problem. Anyone who has worked with any of the students in the LA school system could tell you the schools are not failing, the kides are! These are very needy children. They need intensive tutoring and one on one work to be able to graduate. the funds for this necessary support are just not there. Educational funds are distributed quite uniformly throughout the state. While this is fair, it will not be sufficient for these developmentally disabled children.
Submitted by: David Schenck
6. Teacher and administrator retirement is based on the same formula: years x retirement factor (based on age at retirement) x highest salary. A teacher or administrator with 30 years would retire with 72% after age 60. With 96% after 40 years. The difference is that administrators are on a higher pay scale. Teachers top out at about $75,000 for purposes of retirement; administrators start at $90,000.
Submitted by: Truth
7. This is not just a LAUSD problem. The whole state needs to focus on the schools and how to educate the next generation and keep California competitive. But instead, the California legislature are more concerned with banning balloons and sterilizing pets. California suffers from a complete absence of leadership.
Submitted by: Caroline
8. Treat each child on an individual basis. Then maybe the children won't feel hopelessly another number in the faceless crowd. Remember these are human beings we are talking about.
Submitted by: Lest not forget
9. Hi, Tim. I'm glad you wrote this column asking "where's the civic outrage" but you need to know who you're talking to. As I type these words, the top three posts include a person who thinks the City Counsel (sic) and our "idiot" mayor will blame Bush for this; another person thinks that stupid parents are producing stupid offspring; still another believes that the problem is one-half of the students are "Mexicaan" (sic). I'm a teacher, Tim. You want me to be accountable to these racists and ignoramuses? Forget it.
Submitted by: cc
10. If these dropouts reported to school each day, where would LAUSD put them? The schools are already overcrowded, with class sizes way too high. And who would teach all these extra kids? LAUSD won't even give overstressed teachers like me the cost of living increase that was supposedly budgeted. Now we are told to "take" four furlough days next year. LAUSD is a mess, with a superintendent with no classroom experience. But let's not forget Rutten's final point about most dropouts coming from gang-infested areas. If this problem is as "intractable" as Rutten states, does LAUSD deserve all the blame if kids choose gangs over school?
Submitted by: LAUSD English Teacher
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