Conditions at Schools

I am a teacher at Cleveland High School in the West San Fernando Valley. When I began teaching there the place was a mess. There was graffiti everywhere, bathrooms were filthy, lawns were brown, ceiling tiles had fallen . . . all the complaints voiced at Jefferson and Fremont high schools (“Impoverished Old Schools Need Bigger Share of Prop BB Funds,” Jan. 19). All this changed dramatically with the arrival of a new, highly effective principal four years ago. Her first order of business was to get bathrooms in shape. Suddenly halls were mopped every day. Within a year, volunteer work parties were applying fresh coats of paint to the dingy halls. No new money was found (until the earthquake destroyed large parts of the school). In fact, Cleveland gets less funding than either Fremont or Jefferson. We are not a Title I school, do not get “school improvement” money but subsist on the meager funds doled out by the Los Angeles Unified School District.

I suggest that what is wrong with Fremont and Jefferson is a lack of will on the part of the administration. This is pure and simple the responsibility of the principal and other administrators. Until these administrators do their jobs, money spent there will be wasted.

VICTORIA DENEROFF

Winnetka