L.A. School Problems

I have a question for the Los Angeles School Board and the Los Angeles teachers union: What is the priority in the school system? I used to think our kids were No. 1 . . . that their futures were of overall importance to everyone involved. That’s not the picture I’m getting.

My son is a fifth grader at Melvin Avenue School in Reseda. I am deeply disturbed by the fact that he might not get a graduation ceremony due to the strike, and that the grades he earned this year will mean nothing next year when it comes to placing him in junior high school because the administration will never see them.

And what about the schooling time lost due to the strike itself? I don’t think it is a matter of which side is right or wrong in this standoff between the board and the union. I care much too deeply about the education of my son to stand idly by and let him be hurt by someone else’s argument. The teachers deserve better treatment than they have received; they’re doing an extraordinarily important job. But their tactics only hurt the kids. It is time to end this bureaucratic tug-of-war and get on with the much more important job of educating our children!

JESSICA SCHULZ

Reseda