Welcome, Leonard Britton

Leonard Britton will have his hands full when he comes to the Los Angeles Unified School District as its new superintendent. At least 590,000 youngsters attend the public schools. Some of them excel, but thousands and thousands miss the preparation that leads to success in college or at work.

Britton will appropriately tackle the educational challenges first. He wants all test scores to improve, and all children to learn. They are admirable goals, more easily articulated than reached.

When Britton replaces the much-admired Harry Handler, he will head the nation’s second-largest system, a district that must educate gifted children and children who need extra help; poor children and children who have every advantage; articulate children and children who can say only a few words in English.

He will grapple with severe overcrowding. As neighborhood schools run out of room, the district resorts to busing, makeshift classrooms and bungalows on playgrounds. Britton can provide relief if he can persuade the school board to stop postponing the inevitable and start putting more schools on the unpopular year-round calendar. If the board acts quickly, teachers and parents will have plenty of time to plan for the new schedule.

He takes over at a time when state money is tight. The powerful teachers union is threatening a strike. And the minority educators and leaders who wanted one of their own to guide a district that is 56% Latino, 18% black, 18% Anglo and 8% Asian are clearly disappointed. The challenges seem formidable.

Britton, however, ought to feel right at home. He assumed the superintendent’s job in Dade County, Florida, seven years ago when Johnny L. Jones, Miami’s popular black superintendent, was forced to resign because of a scandal involving misuse of school funds. Britton did not antagonize the sensitive situation by cleaning house or demoting his predecessor’s appointees. He moved cautiously and successfully defused the anger of many black educators and leaders.

When Britton was promoted to the top job in Miami, a huge influx of Cuban children and boatloads of Haitian children were greatly increasing the school enrollment. Drug wars and crime sprees were making some school grounds unsafe. Race riots were closing schools.

But during Britton’s seven-year tenure, Miami’s schools improved. The unions cooperated. The business leaders gave strong support. And public confidence began to grow, as shown by the numbers of youngsters who transferred from private to public schools. We hope that Supt. Britton will do as well in Los Angeles.