Here’s $4 Billion More for State’s Classrooms

Re “Staying the Course at L.A.’s Urban High Schools,” March 25: Would it help if the governor and California Legislature spent an additional $4 billion each year in the classroom to provide textbooks and supplies, hire more counselors and teachers aids, provide more pay for teachers and sublease commercial property to provide additional classrooms? Does California really need to spend 42 cents of every education dollar on administration? Do the governor and Legislature recognize the need to introduce reforms that would reduce the administrative costs of public education throughout California to spend more money in the classroom? Why can’t they pass legislation that would consolidate the administrative functions (accounting, payroll, purchasing and human resources) of the state’s more than 1,000 school districts and spend the $4 billion saved each year in the classroom?

Mark Rome

Newport Beach

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Re “District, Union Settle Contract Dispute,” March 23: I was disappointed at the intentionally skewed data. In your article you claim that the standard pay for a veteran teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District is currently $72,247, as if this were a typical veteran teacher’s salary. That salary is for someone with more than 30 years of experience who has a PhD in his or her subject area. A typical salary for an LAUSD teacher with 10 years of experience ranges from $47,287 to $65,504.

You also reported that this is a raise for teachers. As always, this is an across-the-board raise. In other words, every district employee receives this 2% salary increase, including the administrators. Of course they receive 2% of a much larger amount. What else is new?

Brad Margolin

Northridge