Ranking of State Public Schools

Often the Los Angeles Unified School District is criticized and used as a whipping post for any politician looking for media attention. The SAT-9 test results once again call negative attention to Los Angeles. It’s never mentioned that the LAUSD has many outstanding schools and programs. Most school districts do an exemplary job under sometimes impossible conditions. When a third to over 90% of students do not speak English, yet are tested in English, the results are going to be low. When you ask second-grade students to sit for over six hours to take the SAT-9 test, the results are not going to be positive. When the publisher of the test loses some of the tests, or cannot get them delivered on time, the results are not going to be valid.

Dysfunctional families, drug abuse, gangs, overcrowding and language difficulties are just a few of the issues faced every day by educators. The current governor and his two predecessors want to hold educators responsible for many of society’s problems; however, we did not create the many social problems that exist today. Let’s also give credit for reducing the dropout rate, improvement on the SAT (for university-bound students), tremendous increases in students attending college, advanced placement test results, computer literacy and technology.

EDWARD A. SUSSMAN

Superintendent, Downey

Unified School District

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OK, so now we know that kids in rich neighborhoods score better on tests than kids in poor neighborhoods. Did we have to spend millions to find this out?

LANI MARTIN

Huntington Beach

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Re “API Scores Are Only the First Step,” Commentary, Jan. 25:

Gov. Gray Davis has shown me he doesn’t have a clue what it takes to be a teacher. When someone sets out to be a teacher, he or she commits to a long, arduous and expensive education, just like other professionals. Does Davis think someone will do that just to put in a couple years of service to “a great and noble cause”? Do we even want teachers who are just putting in public service time until they move on to a “real” career?

Teaching is a hard job. It takes time to learn to do it well. It requires dedication. It is a career choice. Fewer and fewer people want to do it, because the reality is, it doesn’t pay very well. If the governor really thought my job was so very important, he’d pay me a salary commensurate with my worth.

MELISSA WALSH

West Hills