Test Time on Schools

The numbers are staggering. In less than a decade, Los Angeles Unified School District administrators estimate there will be nearly 2,500 more students than desks at Monroe High School. It won’t be much better at Polytechnic High, which faces a shortage of nearly 2,400 spots by 2006. And the two schools are hardly alone as the district faces a decade of rapid growth not just in the San Fernando Valley, but across Los Angeles.

The solution: More schools. Already, long-closed West Valley campuses are reopening to accommodate swelling numbers of elementary students. But even more are needed. Districtwide, administrators plan to spend $1.8 billion to build 51 new schools. Thirteen are proposed for the Valley--mostly in high-growth neighborhoods east of the San Diego Freeway. They include two high schools, two middle schools, three elementary schools and six primary centers--which serve kindergartners through second-graders.

Clearly, the project is necessary to keep pace with growth and to keep campuses safe and functional. Plus, it would reduce the need to bus students long distances by allowing them to attend school in their own neighborhoods. All are admirable, important goals. But pulling it all off will be tricky.

First, the district has only about half the money it needs to get the schools built. In addition to the $900 million set aside for new school construction from Proposition BB, the district is counting on $574 million from a state bond issue that it hopes will make it on the November ballot. That leaves at least another $350 million the district will need to raise. Not impossible, but difficult.

Second, building campuses in an already developed city is problematic. Particularly in the Valley, most campuses were built either before houses went up or right alongside them. Land was cheap and plentiful. Not so any more. School board member Jeff Horton is correct when he noted that “buying this land is going to be a nightmare.” It will be particularly true when the district starts condemning property. Suddenly, the dream of new schools runs head-on into private property rights.

Finally, the district plans to switch the schedules of at least 174 schools to accommodate growth. So traditional two-semester schools would change to a year-round schedule with 163 days of instruction--17 fewer than traditional calendars. To make up the difference, students would attend classes longer each each day. That’s the wrong way to go. Longer days--and fewer of them--cheat students. It’s difficult enough for many students to stay focused as it is. Few of those extra minutes in class would be productive--particularly later in the day.

Like the rest of Los Angeles, the Valley needs new schools. The plan unveiled last week by Supt. Ruben Zacarias attempts to meet that need. Actually getting schools built, though, demands work not only by district administrators, but by parents, business owners and public officials. The dream of strong community schools--which Zacarias’ building plan embodies--needs a strong community to be realized.