Magnet Schools and Immigrants

Your article on magnet schools (“Magnet Schools Deter Immigrant Pupils,” Oct. 15) revives many sore issues within the Los Angeles Unified School District.

I am a teacher in the “other” Euclid Avenue school which services the regular children in our Eastside neighborhood. More than 70% of our children are immigrants or children of immigrants, and more than 60% benefit from a bilingual program.

The magnet school concept is a relic of the racial desegregation battles during the late ‘60s and early ‘70s during which white families began to leave public education en mass. The magnet schools were established with the intent of attracting white families, and that is why even today 30% to 40% of the seats are reserved for Anglo children.

Many of the students in the fourth and fifth grade Euclid Magnet have graced my classroom in previous years. It is my experience that once parents are adequately informed about the program, they become enthusiastic supporters of the magnet program.

What is lacking is a commitment by district administrators to train teachers to recognize gifted traits, to recruit bilingual testing personnel, to recruit bilingual teachers and to adequately appraise parents of their rights and opportunities.

The success of the Euclid Magnet School proves that there are interested parents, enthusiastic administrators and staff and bright, eager students. The school district needs to unlock those elements and bring them together to improve all of our schools.

ERNESTO SILVA-VALDIVIA, Monterey Park