Los Angeles School Board Buys Out Britton’s Contract

I see that the Los Angeles Unified School District Board has done it again. It never ceases to amaze me how totally ignorant the board can be in terms of spending the taxpayers’ money. Without reflecting on the person of William Anton, who I am sure is competent, I can only say that the manner in which his surprise selection took place reflects once again the arrogance of the school board (Part A, July 17).

Not only have they “bought out the contract” and dismissed Dr. Leonard Britton who had one more year on his contact, but they moved in secret to appoint a superintendent from within the system, a system that has a rather poor image in the city, state and nation. This underhanded way of appointment is to be condemned as blatantly arrogant, undemocratic, and an open denial of an open search process to select a new superintendent that would have brought input from outside the insulated and isolated school board. What makes this exercise even more scandalous is the fact that they bought out Britton’s contract for more than $225,000 at a time that they profess to have a school-wide deficit of more than $200 million.

While the board is willing to pay this unnecessary expenditure, where will the board now make up the difference in an already deficit-plagued budget? It is time for the state and the public to realize the necessity for breaking up this large, unmanageable and undemocratic school district so that there is more accountability. I can well understand the general public’s emerging political skepticism with incumbents and welcome the voters’ mood to vote out all incumbents. Certainly newly elected neophytes couldn’t do any worse than the current crop of school board members.

ALFRED LIGHTFOOT

Glendale