Books and Bathrooms

Ramon C. Cortines, the interim superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, promises that every student will have appropriate textbooks and clean restrooms by June 30. That down-to-earth pledge--a “focus on two things: books and bathrooms”--resonated in classrooms, the place where reform has to begin. Howard Miller, the chief operating officer, also promises measurable change in how a district known for deep and intractable failures does its business. If Cortines and Miller can keep their word, they will begin to right the course of public education in Los Angeles and allow a permanent superintendent to come in next year on the upswing.

Arriving early Monday for his first day on the job, Cortines also took aim at the entrenched LAUSD bureaucracy, calling for staff reductions at the bloated and unresponsive downtown headquarters.

Cortines is not naive. He knows the difficulty in turning around a troubled district from his experiences as schools chief in New York, San Francisco, San Jose and Pasadena. He also recognizes the political obstacles that could derail his plan. State Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles), a loyalist of outgoing Supt. Ruben Zacarias and a vocal critic of the current school board, is not being helpful when he continues to call for the breakup of the district without giving the new leadership a chance.

Many promises have been made and broken in Los Angeles Unified. The district needs everything: more and better-qualified new teachers and more than 100 new schools. But books and bathrooms are a good place to start.