As the Experts See It . . .

The L.A. Times has provided a valuable service by presenting rich examples of the complexities and heartbreaks confronting our public schools. The grim reality The Times paints should serve as a call to action for educators and policymakers on critical issues.

Having said that, I want to note that the series felt unduly bleak to me. My concern is that no conscientious parent would want to enroll a child in any public high school in the state. As the parent of three daughters who have attended California public schools, and as an educator who has taught and observed in a variety of urban and suburban settings, I have personally experienced that many California schools work well.

I believe what was missing were the success stories--not just of individual teachers and students but of schools and programs that are working. There are many to choose from: The Advancement Via Individual Determination program (AVID), operational in over 400 secondary schools in California, sets high standards for low-income students and has documented significant success in admitting these students to outstanding four-year colleges throughout the country. Success for All, in over 700 low-income elementary schools, has brought the vast majority of students it serves up to reading grade level by the third grade.

As The Times’ series clearly documents, however, the overall performance of California schools is a sorry spectacle. Where to begin to turn this around?

A beginning point ought to be serious attention to the matter of academic standards for students. We need to move beyond the skepticism and fear that testing programs will stigmatize low-achieving students or be used to penalize poor-performing teachers. We need to recognize instead that test scores, when viewed in a full-bodied context, are a critical tool for tracking progress in learning, identifying gaps in knowledge and fine-tuning teaching.

After The Times’ series, any thoughtful reader should be disabused of the notion that “anyone can teach.” The ethnic and language diversity and the high rate of children who live in poverty and come from dysfunctional families make teaching a very challenging profession. Our children deserve more than teachers who enter the classroom “nearly as easily as getting a job at McDonald’s.”

What steps can we take?

* Require public higher education institutions (UC, Cal State and community colleges) to devote more of their resources to preparation of teachers.

* Invest more of our education dollar in quality teachers and less in state categorical aid programs; provide state financial incentives to schools that document significant achievement gains, and reward teachers who acquire knowledge and skills to improve.

* For hard-to-staff schools and subject matter fields, let the market dictate the salary schedule as occurs in all other professions. For example, we need to pay more for inner-city, special education and math teachers.

* Embark upon an advertising campaign to alert college students and professionals seeking a second career about the opportunities to make a difference in kids’ lives. Although not a well-paying profession for college graduates, teaching offers job stability, full health and pension benefits and generous vacation time--a more attractive package than many might first imagine. Advertising has worked for the Army (“Be all you can be”)--it can work for schools too.

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Gary K. Hart, a former state senator, is director of the Institute for Education Reform for the California State University system.