Overcrowded Schools

In the stack of literature I’ve received from several candidates running for City Council in District 5, there are promises to trim trees, fill potholes, relieve traffic congestion and extend library hours. I’d like to hear from the candidate who has a plan to contain or reduce population growth in areas with schools that are grievously overcrowded--which is just about everywhere. Why is it that apartment buildings, condos, and housing developments have been permitted to proliferate in our city without regard to whether or not children who move into them will have a seat in a school that isn’t already filled to double or triple its intended capacity?

If the school district hasn’t been able to afford to build a high school in three decades, how can the city permit all this residential growth? Don’t the school board and City Hall talk to each other? This should have been addressed long before the Los Angeles Unified School District’s student population exceeded 700,000.

An article stated that the San Fernando Valley is “the growth engine for the city--its total population growing more than three times faster than the area on the other side of the Santa Monica Mountains,” (“Figures Show Latinos Near Equal Clout in Valley,” March 31). Candidates for City Council ought to ponder that one. I’m not the only parent who’s wondering why this problem has been allowed to reach crisis proportions, but I promise you many of us have come to the same conclusion about city planning in Los Angeles: There isn’t any.

MAUREEN FOSTER

Sherman Oaks