Schools Don’t Need Big-Brother Business

Contrary to the impression given in James Flanigan’s “Business Has a Place in Reforming Public Education” (May 8), the victory of Venice High School’s Science Bowl team in the recent national competition did not take place as a result of corporate involvement in the school. Rather, this achievement was an outgrowth of an outstanding Advanced Placement and Honors science program, excellent instruction, motivated students and a dedicated coach.

Venice High’s science department has received substantial direct support, but most of that has come in the form of parent or community assistance, outreach programs by universities (most notably Caltech and UCLA), volunteer retired engineers and teachers, as well as the California Science Teachers Assn. The original device that the Science Bowl team used to practice buzzing in for right answers, for example, was built by a parent who used his own funds to buy the materials. After winning the regional competition, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power provided a more sophisticated device that gave the team members invaluable practice.

A closer look at the Science Bowl competition itself reveals a further pattern of business nonparticipation. Venice’s team and their expenses were underwritten by the Department of Water and Power, and the other Los Angeles-area team, Arcadia High School, was sponsored by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The U.S. Department of Energy sponsored and designed this challenging national competition. These groups are government or quasi-governmental agencies that often have a broader vision and greater commitment to the community than institutions focused on the next quarterly statement.

We welcome genuine business support for our program and believe that businesses can and should be enlisted to improve public education. We look forward to a proactive business community that works directly with teachers to assist them in the delivery of quality education.

DAVID KOMOTO, FRED SIEGEL,

RICHARD ERDMAN

Faculty Members

Venice High School

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Mr. Flanigan writes that the work force of Southern California is being trained in the schools, as goes without saying. But he adds, “Yet local mayors and city councils have no real authority over our schools.”

Why in the world should they have any? And watching the difficulties mayors and councils have in doing the jobs they were elected to, who’d want them extending any authority to their areas’ schools?

BESS CHRISTENSEN

Lompoc, Calif.