A Goal Everyone Shares

Leaders of the Latino community met this week with Los Angeles School Board President Genethia Hayes. The hot topic of the day: the school board’s decision to place a former board member in charge of the Los Angeles Unified School District, in effect replacing Supt. Ruben Zacarias. The dialogue between Hayes and Latino leaders comes late, but it is good that it has begun and it is certainly to be encouraged.

The tensions that have flared over Zacarias’ fate are dangerous to civic life in Los Angeles. Many Latino leaders are seething about how the board proceeded last week to bring in Howard Miller, former school board member and lawyer, to oversee day-to-day operations of the district. Given the continuing crisis in the district, from failing scores to the $200-million Belmont Learning Complex fiasco, the school board needed to take decisive and swift action. The board did that last week, as it moved to gain control of a district that needs to be shaken to its very roots.

The district is plagued with entrenched bureaucracies, one often not knowing what the other is doing. That lack of knowledge and accountability is why the district is facing another likely toxic contamination disaster, with up to $62 million down the hole so far, at the site of a planned South Gate school complex. Supt. Zacarias, while clearly devoted to schoolchildren, had not demonstrated in more than two years that he was able to fundamentally change the way the district operates.

That said, the way the board action was taken last week left much to be desired. Hayes, after meeting this week with Latino elected officials and community leaders, has properly apologized for not doing a better job in communicating with community leaders who work for and are elected by the region’s growing Latino population. The board should not back away from change--but change requires the participation if not the full embrace of a broad cross-section of people who care about the education of Los Angeles’ schoolchildren. That means parents, educators and civic leaders of all colors and backgrounds.

Those who want better education for Los Angeles schoolchildren--and this is the goal everyone shares--must work through the misunderstanding and the real as well as perceived slights. An editorial cartoon by Michael Ramirez on this controversy, published on The Times’ Commentary page Tuesday, was considered by some to be racially offensive, and that we regret.

Even as she apologized for how she and the board went about their decision last week, Hayes Tuesday raised provocative questions that merit further discussion, with Latino leaders and with the entire Los Angeles community, for we all bear responsibility for the quality of public education that we provide our children. Hayes said:

“This is not something we thought up to be disrespectful. . . .How long do children have to wait before somebody takes bold action? I know that every Latino leader cares about the children. We can argue all day and all night about the process. I can sincerely apologize about the speed and not notifying people, but we have to turn the district around and we don’t have another decade . . .

“The real question is, are we proud? Can we stand up and say we’re happy that Los Angeles’ schoolchildren are down in the bottom half on test scores? Are people really happy about the results?”