Parents seek school tips

About 3,500 parents gathered downtown Saturday, hoping to pick up practical tips on how to help their children succeed in Los Angeles public schools.

They were drawn to workshops that included how to prepare a child for kindergarten, dropout prevention and programs for gifted students.

The goal of the 11th annual Parent Summit was to give parents access to district officials, a kind of open house for the parents of the nation’s second-largest school district.

Held at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the event also included seminars on helping parents understand computer technology used in the classroom.

“We came because we want to learn,” said Enriqueta Frairie, a San Fernando Valley mother of three.

Although parents said they welcomed the chance to attend the summit, the question-and-answer session in one packed seminar with school board members turned into a forum for voicing frustrations about schools that parents said were unresponsive to their concerns.

The event took place one day after a scathing report was released that portrayed the Los Angeles Unified School District as inefficient and ineffective.

Supt. David L. Brewer has pledged swift action to elevate almost all schools in the district to academic success by 2013.

Some school board members defended their record as they began a session with parents.

“We have, I think, one of the greatest school boards that has been assembled for some time,” said board member Jon Lauritzen.

School board member Julie Korenstein said, “Frankly, I have some difference of opinion about the report,” telling parents that what they may have read about the report “may not be correct.”

But parents didn’t seem as concerned about the politics of the report as they did about getting answers to what they see as real and urgent problems: Why is it so difficult to find a math tutor for my child? What is the district doing to combat gang violence? Why is teacher turnover so high?

Refugio Dado, a waitress from Highland Park, voiced frustration over not being able to find math tutoring help for her seventh-grade daughter. When Dado called school officials, they gave her an educational CD, which didn’t help.

She said she was forced to hire a private tutor, a financial hardship for her family. She pays $25 per session once or twice a week.

Dado earns the minimum wage, plus tips, and has had to cut back on other expenses for a service she thinks the school should provide.

School board member Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte said that every school is supposed to offer tutoring and told Dado to complain to her child’s principal.

That answer was all but worthless to Dado. After leaving the meeting, she said she had already talked to the principal and gotten nowhere.

“It’s not right,” Dado said. Referring to school district officials, she said, “I know they say they are working hard, but I don’t see it.”

Michelle Blair, 15, wanted to let board members know that they need to do something about the gang violence that she said is making her and her friends scared to go to class sometimes at Westchester High School.

“One day, I feel, I may not come back,” she said.

LaMotte gave the student a business card and told the teenager to contact her later.

One parent complained about high teacher turnover, saying her fourth-grader has already had four teachers this year.

Another parent complained about a lack of properly qualified teachers and resources for students with limited English skills.

The school board members listened and said they would forward the complaints to the district staff.

One mother complained that a cafeteria menu at an elementary school has not changed in years, even as diabetes rates among pupils at the school have risen in recent years.

School board President Marlene Canter said L.A. Unified in recent years has banned soda and junk food sales on campus; other members acknowledged that more can be done.

“It’s been too long waiting for healthier food for the children,” Korenstein said. “It takes a long time to move a ship.”

She added, “Maybe an admiral can move it.”

Brewer, the superintendent and a retired Navy vice admiral, did not attend the session.

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ron.lin@latimes.com