Public Education

Re “Suspect, 16, Shot in Scuffle With School Official,” Oct. 20.

There you go again, in a story about a burglary at the Harvard-Westlake School, referring to it as “the exclusive private school.” Your reporters and editors seem congenitally incapable of referring to a private school without the adjective “exclusive,” which gives readers the impression that “exclusivity” in schools is of the highest value. Exclusive means “excluding others from participation, snobbishly aloof, accepting or soliciting only a socially restricted patronage (as of the upper class).”

There are many in Los Angeles who are interested in building a community that has its foundations in the “inclusive” public schools, where children can experience social diversity along with academic excellence. So if you must refer to private schools as “exclusive,” let’s be consistent and always refer to public schools as “inclusive.” Use the power of your words to encourage those who stay and continue to fight the good fight for excellent public education in a system that includes, not excludes.

TIIU LUKK

Santa Monica