Quality Education

“Hispanic Art in the United States” opened this month at the L.A. County Art Museum, and every child in Los Angeles should see it. But they won’t. Why? Because the schools no longer have money for such “luxuries” as field trips. This is a scandal.

The children of Los Angeles are aesthetically starved. If we want kids to stop spraying their names all over the city, let’s show them where else to spray. Let’s let real painters and vibrant works of art speak the message we want them to hear. Believe me, after working with teen-agers for 15 years, I know they’re not listening to our words, nor are they reading letters like this. Let’s attack their sensibilities on another front, one where they least expect a sermon.

School should be the place where children learn to value culture, to respect just authority, to plan for the city of the future, but they cannot accomplish this mandate on current funding. Schools should not be beggars at the table of big business, waiting for a few crumbs, donations that help but cannot heal the wounded institutions.

Education needs stable funding that will allow such “luxuries” as art for all. The choice is simple: pay for quality public education or pay for police. The energy we cannot direct for the good will, I fear, destroy our city.

CAROL JAGO

Pacific Palisades