Struggle to Improve Student Achievement

I appreciated Les Birdsall’s “Centralizing Authority Puts School Reform at Risk” (Opinion, Jan. 14) and “Revived Effort to Build L.A. Schools Faces Many Hurdles” (Jan. 16). As a parent who has served thousands of hours working in the LAUSD trenches on various school committees over the past six years, I can verify that all this talk about school reform and building schools by the LAUSD is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. Its bureaucratic forces have indeed entrenched themselves even deeper in power and have taken much of the ballyhooed “local authority” away from the very schools that would benefit from determining their own destinies and future.

The LAUSD has been presented with many great opportunities for real reform, innovation and relief of overcrowding (like New West Charter Middle School) but has instead turned its back on these opportunities because they require relinquishing some of authority to people who actually care--the parents and teachers.

DAVID J. EAGLE, Chair

New West Charter Middle School

Development Group, Los Angeles

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Birdsall fails to mention the math and reading classroom standards developed by the LAUSD. He cites a new “comprehensive” standards-based promotion program, which he maintains the central office will propose next month, but he fails to include current, ongoing school-based efforts. District schools are already working to implement performance assignments throughout grades two through eight. Each district school will administer an annual reading/writing performance assignment to all fluent English-speaking students. Training is ongoing to develop uniform grading of these performance assessments.

Where the focus for reform should be placed is on the need for more classroom space to house those students who must be kept back. Overcrowded schools already on year-round schedules, with no place to teach retained students, are the real culprits in holding back LAUSD student achievement.

SHERRIL THOMPSON, Teacher

Wilmington Park Elementary

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On Jan. 17, The Times published a list of Academic Performance Index scores for schools in the L.A. area. While the average score for Los Angeles high schools of 3.2 (below the average of those taking the test) was not good, when compared to high schools with like populations in terms of poverty rate, number of English-language learners, pupil mobility, etc., the average score was 6.1 (above average).

This tells me that Los Angeles high school teachers, for the most part, are doing a very good job of educating students and should be congratulated. It is clear that educators still are not able to completely overcome the environmental pressures that students in Los Angeles face, but that teachers in Los Angeles are making progress in this area.

MARTIN HITTELMAN

Los Angeles