Admit talent
Re “Opening up the arts school,” Opinion, April 8
Although I can sympathize with the feelings of the inner-city parents concerning the new arts school because my child too attends an overcrowded LAUSD high school, it makes sense to allow motivated students from all over the district to apply.
To keep the new school from being a bastion of white flight, the district could create a point or lottery process along the lines of the magnet system for students who are already enrolled in LAUSD schools and whose teachers recommend them. This would encourage middle-class investment in public schools.
Perhaps retention in the school could be based on performance. If students don’t work hard to make the most of the opportunity, they would have to make way for others who would.
Ruth Anne Hammond
Los Angeles
The writer is president of the board of directors of Resources for Infant Educarers, an education nonprofit.
Re “Discord builds over new arts school,” April 6
As an arts educator, I was surprised at The Times’ article concerning the intense discord over how to use the new Los Angeles Unified arts school to serve a broad student population in the arts.
After years of planning and building an outstanding arts facility in the inner city, the LAUSD does not seem to grasp the opportunity to be on the cutting edge of leadership for students who have the passion for an arts education but who would otherwise not be able to compete with students who have money and years of formal training.
I have always believed that if a child has the desire to learn the arts, he or she should be given a way to do so. I taught dance and theater for many years in inner-city schools and know that artistic giftedness is not limited to the few. If you give children four years of sequential and rigorous study in the arts of their choice, they will develop into true artists -- products of the promise of a good public education.
Lois Hunter
West Covina
The writer is the chair of the theater department at the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts.
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