Los Angeles Schools

As I read the articles about the new school board members and their resolve to turn the Los Angeles schools around, the image that springs to mind is a band of Lilliputians, pounding their tiny, impotent fists against a huge and immovable monolith. I have had children in the L.A. city school system for over 12 years, and I have listened closely to all the ideas, all the attempts at reform, all the good intentions and, for my money, the schools have only gotten worse.

My cynicism hit a peak a few weeks ago when I went to my daughter’s graduation from Grant High School. I can only describe it as a free-for-all.

One of the outgoing school board members was a guest speaker, and he tried to give an upbeat speech about how L.A.’s kids are really not so bad, during which one of the seniors produced a beach ball that was subsequently batted around by the somberly attired graduates. The class valedictorian could barely be heard due to the shouts and catcalls of his fellows, none of whom seemed to care that this young man had worked for four years for this honor.

When the names of graduates were read, the more hilarious cutups competed to see who could be the stupidest. The crowd watching this farce, which was, I assume, made up of parents, loved the high jinks so I suppose I shall continue to be just a voice crying in the wilderness.

I would like to make clear, however, that my daughter did not get a bad education at Grant. She is a self-starter so she was in the honors and advanced placement classes, and I believe the teachers of those classes at Grant are among the best there are. I have been deeply impressed by the dedication and intelligence of so many of them. But the other kids who do not get put into the elite classes get hopelessly lost in the chaos and end up adults with no education and no clue as to what it takes to live in the world.

There is a power vacuum in the L.A. city schools system. I see the only solution being a complete overhaul by a determined despot. But since everything has to be “democratic,” we will continue to produce camels, the proverbial horses designed by committee. And who would have the courage to really do the job anyway? Such a leader would have to give up being popular, and popularity is the most important value in our society.

I want to support public schools. I believe in public education. . . . But I am beginning to despair. I have two other children and I fear that these people I love more than anything else in the world are in danger of being sucked down into the abyss of chaos despite my best intentions.

I don’t know if I have the strength to continue to fight against the tide of licentiousness that is the order of the day. I wish I had some solutions. At the moment, all I have is despair.

VICTORIA E. KERRIGAN, Sherman Oaks