Principal concerns

Re “Union resorts to code of silence to stifle questions about principal,” column, Oct. 30

Bob Sipchen’s column was a harsh attack on the principal of Woodland Hills Elementary School, Anna Feig. My daughter attended Woodland Hills Elementary. Feig is a dedicated and demanding educator who sets high standards for her school and gets results. Woodland Hills Elementary is a remarkable school with a high level of parental involvement.

I had the pleasure of getting to know Feig over the course of my daughter’s tenure at Woodland Hills Elementary and found her to be intelligent and caring. She was also self-aware and had a sense of humor about the no-nonsense image she projects. It was truly distressing to see Feig subjected to this bitter and unwarranted attack. I am mystified as to why, with all the failing schools in L.A. Unified to choose from, Sipchen would target a real success story. I hope Feig will ignore this episode and continue her great work. Sipchen owes Feig an apology.

ROBERT JORDAN

Woodland Hills

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Sipchen brings to light an incredibly important issue that the Los Angeles Unified School District must resolve. We repeatedly hear the calls to replace “bad teachers,” but very rarely do we hear the cries of those who suffer under “bad administrators” or unnecessary district administrators.

L.A. Unified pays hundreds of millions for ill-conceived curriculum programs. These companies require the district to hire instructional coaches to police the programs, which are then policed by “specialized” local district staff. L.A. Unified removes some teachers to fill these positions. L.A. Unified classrooms are staffed with great teachers doing great work every day. The district needs to begin an accountability process that fires “bad administrators” and reassigns unnecessary out-of-classroom personnel.

GREGORY FOOTE

Sun Valley