Romer on Crowded Schools

* Re “Push Comes to Shove at Crowded L.A. Schools,” Sept. 25.

I am appalled at [Los Angeles Unified School District] Supt. Roy Romer’s dismissal of student complaints as excuses for not learning.

Since when is getting up at 4:30 a.m., riding a packed school bus, three to a seat, fighting for a seat, lunch lines too long to chance, filthy bathrooms and teachers with too many students to know their names excuses?

Romer is wrong. With this kind of leadership, the LAUSD is going nowhere on the road to improving facilities or student grades.

What a shame.

MOLLIE MOLE

Northridge

* Romer accuses LAUSD students in overcrowded schools of being “whining” children and admonishes them to “work harder.” At what? Pushing through dangerously packed stairwells and doorways?

Mr. Romer, I don’t know what math you used in Colorado, but El Camino Real High School has over 3,500 students crammed into a physical plant designed for 1,800. That is severe overcrowding by any definition!

Why don’t you leave your plush downtown office and actually visit the San Fernando Valley schools before unfairly criticizing the legitimate complaints of the students in your district?

MICHAEL ZUK

Woodland Hills

* As a parent of two students at Van Nuys High School, I was astounded at Romer’s statement that students complaining of campus overcrowding sound like “they’re children whining.”

Perhaps he should talk to teachers, who say that it makes a real difference in the classroom when you have over 40 students in one room, as opposed to 35.

Or perhaps he should talk to parents, who watch in frustration as weeks go by before schedule conflicts can be resolved and classrooms balanced as best they can be as a result of overcrowding.

The attitude reflected in Romer’s statement indicates a lack of concern for one of the most serious problems facing the LAUSD and calls into question whether he can effectively and swiftly fix these problems.

Our kids are being shortchanged because the district did not build schools for them in a timely manner. To dismiss their legitimate complaints as “whining” adds insult to injury to students, teachers and parents alike.

MIRIAM KOENIG

Granada Hills

* I’d like to ask Romer one simple question: When temperatures in the Valley recently climbed above 100 degrees and even higher in many Valley classrooms, what was the temperature in your office?

JIM SETTLEMOIR

Burbank