Year-Round Schools in L.A.

In recent media coverage, certain members of the Los Angeles School Board have stated, or at least implied, that white parents’ opposition to year-round schools is racist. As one who has opposed many aspects of the district’s year-round proposals, I deplore such accusations and feel they will only impede the achievement of a quality educational system.

The dramatic increase in the district’s school-age population has caused logistical problems that even the most creative, well-financed school district would be hard-pressed to resolve. Sure, this increase has been made up almost exclusively of racial minorities, but the issue is clearly one of demographics, not race. The LAUSD has never been known for its creativity, and like other districts in California, is horribly under-funded.

I personally opposed the district’s proposals to the extent that they provided totally inadequate lead time and implemented the year-round calendar in a piecemeal, random fashion. However, I am also aware that the true, underlying problem is an entrenched bureaucracy which is being forced to work in the perennial crisis state which invariably results from a lack of resources.

Sadly, one effect of inadequate funding has been to divert much of our time and energy to the inherently destructive process of competing among ourselves for the limited slices of the educational pie. The need to fight for adequate funding and to work for creative solutions to educational issues are things on which we can all agree. Let’s not get sidetracked by emotional and unproductive issues of race.

JOE LEVINE

Los Angeles