Ideas for Solving School Locker Woes

* It was with deep regret and frustration that I read the article by Janet Bernson (April 9) and a letter about school lockers.

It is sad to note there is very little cooperation between schools and parents. It seems that we are more interested in blaming each other than working together. Lockers represent only one area in which the two come together with old solutions to new problems.

If Ms. Bernson’s daughter has a heavy load of books to carry, the publishers are to blame and not the schools. Publishers seem to sell their books by the pound, rather than trying to present information in a concise and readable manner.

Sylmar High School has also voted to eliminate lockers. Lockers create many problems for teachers and students who are serious about learning. As a teacher, I deal with these problems on a daily basis.

The solution is not in buying a second set of books. A better solution may lie in having the students own their own books. Perhaps they will develop more respect for this important tool. At the same time, if publishers were to downsize their textbooks and sell them at a lower price, schools would be able to keep up with the newest editions, which would benefit both the students and the textbook industry.

A possible solution might be giving the classroom back to the students. If a group of students stays together and shares the same classes, their homeroom can be their classroom for the day. Along with their books, they will also have all their personal belongings, such as coats and umbrellas, in their classroom. It will belong to them throughout the year, and they will learn to keep it clean and decorate it.

Students will then have to travel for laboratory and activity-based classes like science, physical education, art and shop, but will have one room where the other teachers will come and teach their classes, the homeroom. The possible advantages to this arrangement are numerous and include the following:

* Better attendance.

* Better feeling of community for the students.

* Better control of student truancy.

* More integrated teaching because the process is simplified.

* More discussion of class problems among teachers of the same group.

* Less traveling time throughout the campus for the students to bring books and materials from lockers.

I am aware that the idea of students’ remaining in the classroom and teachers’ moving is very controversial and will be fought by many teachers who might find it unbearable to live without “their room.” If we want to make a change for the better, in my point of view, this is the one to consider.

JOHN H. ALTOUNJI

Van Nuys

Altounji teaches science at Sylmar High School and physics at Los Angeles Valley College.