Jack P. Crowther; Led L.A. Schools From 1962 to ‘70, Fought Cutbacks

Jack P. Crowther, the feisty superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District from 1962 until 1970 who railed against steadily declining budgets, died Friday. He was 83.

Crowther died in Feather River Hospital in Paradise, Calif., northeast of Sacramento, where he had lived during his retirement. His death followed a heart attack and stroke, said his son, Kevin.

“He was truly a great educator, a humanitarian and a great leader,” said current district Supt. Sid Thompson who said he knew Crowther personally.

Beginning as a night school teacher, Crowther spent 36 years working for what is now the nation’s second-largest school district as a teacher, principal and administrator. He saw it grow from 240,000 students with an annual budget of $30 million in 1934 to 750,000 students with a budget of $700 million in 1970.

During his tenure as superintendent, Crowther launched a controversial voluntary busing program to carry out a 1967 board policy of integrating city schools. But he retired before the legal battles of the 1970s over mandatory busing, which he adamantly opposed.

“Parents must have the prerogative of determining whether their children will participate in any program which has integration as a primary thrust,” he said in 1968, “and which takes the child away from the home school.”

The fight over mandatory busing caused many Anglo parents to seek private schools, and district enrollment declined. The district now has about 640,000 students, 85% minority.

Crowther also faced skirmishes with ethnic groups, including a Latino sit-in at school district headquarters over the ouster of popular Latino schoolteacher Sal Castro.

But Crowther’s biggest running dispute with the Board of Education and the state Legislature involved declining budgeting for schools. He became so frustrated over failure to obtain the funds he considered necessary to educate the district’s children, that he retired at 60 and vociferously telegraphed the planned retirement for several years.

“I’m not going to put up with this stupidness any longer,” he told The Times in 1968. “I’ve been cutting our budgets for five years and I’m tired of it.”

He told the board a few days later the “futility of trying to operate a school system with inadequate financial support is more than one person can take.”

Crowther was plagued with back problems that often required leaves of absence, and he said his job had led to threats and harassment against his family. But he made it clear that his early retirement was predicated solely on declining budgets and the resulting “deliberate downgrading” of education.

“It is heartbreaking to see a great school system start to deteriorate because of lack of funds,” he said. “This community and state have all the resources to do the job of educating our young people. All that is required is a reshuffling of resources.”

A native of Salt Lake City, Crowther earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah and his master’s degree from USC.

He held a second job as a property manager during his first years of teaching. During World War II, he was a lieutenant colonel in the Air Corps, handling personnel at the Western Flying Training Command. As a reservist, he attended the Air War College in Montgomery, Ala.

After the war, Crowther moved into school administration, serving as vice principal at Los Angeles High School and principal at San Pedro, Fremont and University high schools. At the time of his selection as superintendent from among 75 applicants, he was associate superintendent in charge of the district’s budget.

In addition to his son Kevin, of El Segundo, Crowther is survived by his wife, Violet, and three other sons, Jack Jr. of Bishop, Richard of La Crescenta and Russell of San Juan Capistrano; two brothers and a sister, and six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

The family has asked that memorial contributions be made in Crowther’s name to an educational program or charity of the donor’s choice.