Letters: Some perspective on Crenshaw High

Re “Foes say Crenshaw changes targeted dissenters,” July 1

Crenshaw High School has a proud tradition, a very supportive community and many truly involved parents, grandparents and guardians. I know this because I was the principal at Crenshaw from 2005 to 2006, when the school was working to regain its lost accreditation.

Wonderful as the school community is, things need to change. The article focuses on Crenshaw teacher and union activist Alex Caputo-Pearl, who has been reassigned to another campus. The Times writes, “In 2006, he was involuntarily transferred from Crenshaw for allegedly blocking reform efforts by driving out a highly regarded principal at a time when the campus was struggling to regain its long-term accreditation.”

I was not driven out by Caputo-Pearl, but I did feel that I could do nothing more for Crenshaw. It became apparent that after accreditation was restored, Caputo-Pearl and union leadership dictated what went on at the school.

Charles Didinger

Manhattan Beach

Had Caputo-Pearl spent all of his time and energy teaching history, as we pay him to do, and less time using students to advance his political agenda by helping “organize student protests,” bringing “community organizations to rally” and pushing “the union to be more politically assertive,” he might still be working at Crenshaw.

There’s a silver lining to Caputo-Pearl’s reassignment: one less activist teacher coaching students to think of themselves as victims rather than examining their own habits as the reason for their academic underperformance.

Jim Tetreau

Los Angeles

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