Responsible Teachers Teach Responsibility

Re “Charter School in Flap Over Attendance,” March 12: I must admit I am somewhat concerned over the parents’ and district’s ability to excuse inappropriate behavior and lack of responsibility on the part of the students who had these excessive absences.

I feel that, as an educator, we are constantly being asked to dumb down our standards when, in fact, our society, i.e., the corporate world, would not tolerate such behavior or excuses. Also, if parents continuously come to the defense of their child and try to minimize or rationalize their child’s inappropriate behavior, the child will be hurt emotionally because he or she will not be given the opportunity to develop both maturity and responsibility.

Children need to learn responsibility and that their behavior and attitudes produce either positive or negative consequences. I applaud the teachers at the school who made this tough decision and hope that they will not back down and cave in to the “meddling” parents.

Yanni Zack

Long Beach

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I was a student at Pacific Palisades High from 1996 to 2000. I think the attendance policy is fair and so is the appeal process. The six-day policy in reality reflects 12 days in its impact, because each class meets every other day due to block scheduling, where each class is about 110 minutes. I did not have to appeal but know people who did have to appeal.

If students gave a doctor’s note or airplane ticket to show where they were, they won the appeal. The policy is there to stop people from being truant. I had some of the teachers mentioned in the article and support them, even though it is against district policy. Also, this policy teaches responsibility, which is something our society seems to shun lately.

Andrew Hamlin

Los Angeles

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The controversy at Palisades High, centered on LAUSD guidelines that say that students who hand in their work and make up tests should pass regardless of attendance, brought back an unpleasant professional memory. Some years ago, I attempted to fail a 12th-grader in my journalism class who, in the first 15 weeks of the semester, had recorded more than 20 absences, had not completed 13 of the 15 weekly assignments and had not passed the midterm. She had no excuse other than laziness.

Her parent got the principal’s ear, and I was ordered to give this girl makeup work (which she didn’t complete). Justification for this order was LAUSD policy that every student must be given a chance to pass every class--even after 15 weeks of “zero” performance.

Michael Wiener

Encino