The Lesson of Grant High : How to regain former glories for our children

Among the many fine schools of the Los Angeles Unified School District, Ulysses S. Grant High School in Van Nuys was once considered a special place for learning and enrichment. But that was before Proposition 13, before expenses (including teachers’ salaries) outpaced state funding and before a high birthrate and immigration swelled enrollment beyond capacity.

The struggle that Grant faces, as described in a Los Angeles Times Magazine article by staff writer Sandy Banks, represents a paradigm for school districts that must try to do so much more with so much less. The pressures stem from pandemic overcrowding, mounting tensions exacerbated by class, race and ethnicity and stiff budget cuts. Money is the most pressing problem. The Board of Education has squeezed $630 million out of the last three budgets.

Grant and other campuses are compensating as best they can. A student leads the band because the teacher was laid off. Teachers, recently forced to take a pay cut, pay for more supplies out of their own pockets than ever before. There are other examples, too, but all add up to a desperate need to restore public schools to their glory days.

Reform will require pressure and assistance from business leaders concerned about the quality of future employees and from political leaders concerned about the future of Los Angeles. LEARN is trying to take the lead. This coalition of civic, educational, business, labor and political leaders is seeking ways to get administrators and teachers to align for the betterment of children, as well as new ways to engage parents in the fight for more public funding.

It’s a daunting task. But despite the barriers Grant High and other public schools are steadfastly trying to hold on to a history of rich achievement. Excellence must indeed be preserved.