Report Cards on Schools Available

The Los Angeles Unified School District is providing parents an in-depth look at their local campuses.

Under a 1988 state law, the district must compile School Accountability Report Cards, which include details on local schools from attendance to teachers’ salaries. The reports are available this week at local campuses free of charge.

Los Angeles schools have produced the reports since 1990. They are updated annually and are intended to give parents the opportunity to evaluate their local schools.

The reports also are used by real estate agents, who try to persuade prospective home buyers with such items as reports of test scores and student attendance figures.

But principals and other school officials say the reports, while valuable, are largely ignored.

“To this day, no one’s ever come in and said, ‘May I see one,’ ” said Richard Cord, principal of Portola Middle School in Tarzana. “Those people who are involved in the school know about it and those people who aren’t involved probably don’t care.”

And, officials say, it would be too expensive to send the reports to all parents.

“It’s a cost issue,” said Dale Braun, assistant director of the district’s school utilization office. “The schools do a pretty good job of saying they’re (the reports) available, but there are a lot of people who don’t know they exist.”

The reports include ethnic/racial breakdowns, average teachers’ salaries, test scores, class sizes and student attendance. Also included is information on extracurricular activities, school facilities and student support services available on campus.

At Portola, for instance, the report states that class sizes have been at or below state guidelines, with English classes having 34 students and math classes 35. The report also states the school has little difficulty getting substitute teachers and that a nurse visits the campus four days a week.

School officials say the information is valuable and gives a clear assessment of local campuses.

“I think it gives John Q. Public something to validate or account for what we’re all about,” said Philip Saldivar, principal of San Fernando High School. “It’s what accountability is all about.”