GUEST COMMENTARY : School Day Provides a Lesson in Dedication

When I was invited to be “principal for a day” at a public school, I was inclined to say no. Could I really spare a day from my law practice?

Upon allowing myself to be drafted, I was assigned to visit Lokrantz School in Reseda, under the auspices of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn.

I am glad I did. The experience left me inspired and hopeful.

Lokrantz is an unusual school. It serves the most severely emotionally and physically disabled children and young adults ages 3 through 22.

A book or a miniseries could be written about the traumas, the complexities, the victories and defeats that each Lokrantz student has survived since birth. I am left with not only indelible images of the children I met, but of the outstanding teachers, aides and administrators who make it an outstanding institution.

During my day, I watched three teachers lovingly prepare a 12-year-old terminally ill, severely disabled boy for his physical education session in the school’s therapeutic pool.

I observed another teacher as she attended to six 5-year-olds, most of whom were completely visually and hearing impaired, none of whom could stand or even sit and many of whom functioned at the level of a 2-month-old infant. She strapped each child into a special sitting apparatus, an effort to train seemingly unwilling bodies to take a position that most of us take for granted. I will not soon forget it.

I watched as a teacher insisted that her students say “please” and “thank you” at lunch. Equally retarded nonverbal children signed the words.

I watched a teacher tube feed a student who was strapped into a device to assist in recovery from surgery.

I saw teachers work with children who most of society would say were beyond the ability to learn.

And what were the children learning? One quadriplegic child, unable to speak, was learning to spell a word by tapping the side of her wheelchair’s headrest until the proper letter on the computer appeared.

Some children were learning the most fundamental skills: how to breathe, how to sit, how to stand. Others, preparing for jobs, stuck labels on test tubes and filed papers alphabetically.

The staff at Lokrantz deals with more than academic instruction. A 3-year-old one day the previous week had held his breath until he lost consciousness six times. Lokrantz must find funds to hire a full-time attendant for him.

A 6-year-old child, after months of consideration, had left Lokrantz two weeks earlier to attend a mainstream school. Exasperated, the school was about to expel him until Lokrantz convinced it to allow the child more time to adjust.

Another child’s mother had declared she could not cope with her children and might harm them. Acting responsibly, the school reported the mother’s concern to the police. She had then publicly complained about the school.

Still another child was so dangerous and destructive that all but one teacher in the school signed a petition expressing unwillingness to supervise the child on the playground. The one teacher gave up all of his breaks to supervise the child on the playground through recess and lunch.

Finally, many teachers and staff got notices that they might lose their jobs due to budget cutbacks in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

For those who work and go to school at Lokrantz, April 29, my day at Lokrantz, was just like any other day. For me, it was the day that rekindled respect and admiration for teachers and administrators.

One of the goals of the statewide Educational Partnership Week, of which my day at Lokrantz was a part, is to “enhance the community’s understanding of the challenges facing public education and to encourage significant involvements and efforts to improve our schools.”

As far as I am concerned, it worked. I am rededicated to do my part to ensure that schools such as Lokrantz do not become victims of red and blue pencils.

The children at Lokrantz have no alternative other than public education. It is our communal responsibility to do whatever we can to improve the lives of these physically and mentally challenged youngsters.

The teachers and administrators do their part by committing themselves intellectually, emotionally and physically to their teaching tasks. All we are called upon to do is to foot that bill.