THE LEARN CURVE

Molly Selvin’s article on LEARN was the most authentic, longitudinal account of school reform at Ground Zero published to date (“On the Front Lines,’ June 15). She managed to catch the flavor and nuance of people collaborating to set goals and developing a consensus to reach them.

Mike Roos, President and CEO

LEARN

Los Angeles

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Parent-teacher councils often attract parents with private agendas. Some oppose uniforms, sex education or the teaching of evolution; others eschew federal grant money, distrust big government and believe that education should be a local matter.

Parent volunteers have no “institutional memory.’ They resign after a term or two because their child has graduated, or they tire of dealing with the zealots. A new set of volunteers joins the council and avidly promotes some program that failed several years earlier.

We respect a plumber’s or electrician’s advice but think the man on the street knows more about education than professionals.

Betty C. Duckman

Long Beach

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The LEARN council members at Walter Reed are brave and hard working. Music teacher Yolanda Gardea, who defends consensus and works many hours beyond her contractual responsibilities, is my heroine. Please give us more stories of folks like these who are working toward creative solutions in our school systems.

Joan Schaffner

Los Angeles

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As lead teacher/United Teachers Los Angeles chair at a first-year LEARN school, I read Selvin’s article with interest. It was a fair and objective account of what has been going on at our school as well.

The LEARN process is not a miracle pill force-fed by a top-heavy bureaucracy but one that allows the school community to begin the reforms necessary to increase student achievement. Little successes are made possible by the hard work of dedicated stakeholders who share a vision for the school and the city, but it does take time. It’s a pity that the parents and students involved cannot be around long enough to see the larger miracles take place.

Cheryl Sloane

Los Angeles

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“Do we buy textbooks, or do we buy more chairs so all the children can sit down while eating lunch?” What a choice! I’m a public-school parent, and the article read like my life. The daily grind of just scraping up the essentials our children need can be overwhelming.

It is ironic how much money there is for political campaigns, marble floors in city buildings and more air-conditioned prisons, but somehow our children always seem to come up short. Sad, but some of these neglected dropouts may get their chance to live in style some day--in one of California’s state-of-the-art prisons.

Eileen Flaxman

Los Angeles

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The heartening LEARN story was sullied by one man’s reference to the National Guard as “killers and assassins.” The Guard protected lives and property during the L.A. riots and following the Northridge earthquake. It is ever at the ready to fight brush fires, aid flood victims and handle any other emergencies.

The California National Guard is a racially diverse organization in a society in which prejudicial conflicts never seem to end. Although many “progressives’ can be quite prejudiced against dedicated people they know nothing about, the thanks of those we’ve helped in recent years more than compensates for the epithets of a few bigots.

Capt. Kurt A. Schlichter

California National Guard

Hermosa Beach