Science Grant Application

The Times’ article (May 25) and editorial (May 27) on the Los Angeles Unified School District’s failure to receive a $15-million grant from the National Science Foundation are an insult to teachers. To present a fact that two classroom teachers were the point persons for the grant development process as the “explanation” for the problem is based on the patronizing assumption that teachers, however outstanding they might be, would not be competent to write a big-league grant.

While it was inept of the district not to have given adequate support to those teachers, it was a positive move by the district to have involved teachers. LAUSD would not even be in this grant process now except for their efforts. Let’s set the record straight.

The grant application sat for over a year in the office of a top LAUSD bureaucrat. It was only through non-district sources that United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) even knew of the grant and proceeded to inquire about its status. In late May, 1993, the district finally responded and asked UTLA to find someone to work with Rebuild L.A. in an attempt to salvage the grant. LAUSD had six months to catch up with districts that would have had 18 months’ effort on the project.

In record time, one teacher working with RLA and a major local university succeeded in getting the $100,000 planning grant. The second teacher was only hired Oct. 8. There were then only three months in which to complete the planning grant implementation while simultaneously preparing the grant application which might close the gap between LAUSD and competing districts.

It is absolutely false that university level consultation was avoided. A major local university provided a writer who actually composed much of the proposal. It is absolutely false that there was no collaboration with LEARN. There were three or four meetings during the fall of 1993 with LEARN liaisons. In fact, LEARN is a major part of the systemic change described in the application.

It is absolutely true that it is only because of the herculean efforts of the teachers and others working together at the last minute that the grant is even within striking distance of winning approval at this juncture.

The National Science Foundation understood the time constraints for LAUSD and still encouraged the teachers to proceed with the process. The foundation did praise many elements in the initial grant and indicated that a revision and re-submission of the application would be welcomed. The grant proposal is now being rewritten and by all accounts has a good chance of being accepted.

The teachers involved in this effort should be credited for getting this far in so short a time. Supt. Sid Thompson should be credited for acting to take the application off an inert bureaucrat’s desk.

DAY HIGUCHI

UTLA Vice President