Letters: No quick fixes in education

Re “The quick ‘trigger,’” Opinion, June 3

Jim Newton is right to point out that parents and their children need help now in securing the best possible education, especially in historically underserved communities.

But does that mean that the “parent trigger” is the answer? Is it wise for whole schools to take the leap of faith that improvement will happen “somehow”? And who is responsible for a school’s poor performance? Individual teachers and administrators, or the district that is supposed to be supervising them? What magic will a new principal or charter operator be able to work?

Communities of color and white working-class students have never been well served by the Los Angeles Unified School District, and giving away schools to charters — or blaming this or that administrator — may seem like a tempting alternative. But the solution is for society to get serious about educating “other people’s children.” There are no quick fixes in education.

Brad Jones

Santa Monica

The writer has been a teacher in L.A. Unified for 29 years.

My children went to high school in a low-income area of the high desert. There was no parent trigger law at the time, so many parents chose to send their kids to smaller schools.

We chose to stay put and enroll our kids in honors classes. We had them contribute to the school community by getting involved in sports and student government.

My daughter was accepted to every UC she applied to, including Berkeley. My son was offered admission to all six colleges he applied to.

I can’t imagine that firing administrators would do much good around here, as principals come and go with regularity. Taking responsibility for the education of your own children, however, seems to work more often than not.

Stan Brown

Victorville

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