School Dispute Produces One More Bitter Shouting Match

It was billed as a neighborhood meeting aimed at organizing parents of students at troubled Marvin Avenue Elementary School into a campus advisory council.

But the teachers union-sponsored gathering of about 30 people Wednesday evening in the frontyard of a nearby home disintegrated into a racially tinged shouting match between union members and allies of Anna McLinn, the school’s African American principal. She has been placed on administrative leave amid allegations of financial irregularities and mismanagement at the Mid-City campus.

The scenario was a repeat of a similar meeting a week ago at the same home, during which McLinn supporters tried to shout down union leaders who were addressing the audience through megaphones.

Observing Wednesday’s boisterous exchanges hurled over the heads of at least a dozen children was Joe Hicks, executive director of the city Human Relations Commission.

Shaking his head in dismay, he said, “This is a joke, a bad parody of the ‘Jerry Springer Show.’ ”

Hicks was not smiling as he added: “What we see here are people pushing organizational agendas through the unfortunate circumstances at this school. We hope to provide any help we can.”

Michelle Alvarado, 10, put it another way.

“Grown-ups don’t have to yell at each other,” she said. “And look at them. They tell us not to use bad words, but they are using them. They’re a bad influence on kids.”

United Teachers-Los Angeles officials have blamed the worsening problems at Marvin Elementary on Los Angeles Unified School District administrators, who they say failed to act decisively against the principal who they allege has mismanaged the school.

McLinn, 57, has been placed on temporary leave as an investigation continues into allegations of serious financial irregularities at the school.

Supt. Ruben Zacarias stressed that his decision to replace her with an interim principal was not prompted by troublesome audit findings.

“I pulled her out to defuse rising tensions,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

Union leaders at the meeting Wednesday declined to comment to the media. However, speaking to the audience through a megaphone, one of them said: “We are hoping this is going to be one of our last meetings off campus.”