A View From the Schools

In response to “Making Do in Class,” (Times Valley Edition, Feb. 20), I have only one thing to say: Making do won’t do.

As a student in the Los Angeles Unified School District, I understood the predicament the district was in when teachers went on strike in 1989, when some newer teachers received pink slips, and alas, when the year-round schedule was put into effect at my school (where none of the classrooms were used during the winter break).

Louargand of the school board says, “With the essential items,” the spending freeze “won’t be felt.” Well, it is being felt. Teachers should not have to spend money out of their own pockets like Baca, who spent $500 last year on pencils, paper and posters.

Who can afford to be a teacher and breadwinner these days? Maybe that’s why there aren’t enough dedicated teachers around.

RUTH CHAN

North Hills