Letters: School improvement without ‘reformers’
Re “Duncan praises LAUSD results,” Dec. 23
The federal government’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was established in the late 1960s, and since then NAEP scores for all American students — for Anglos, African Americans, Asian Americans and Latinos — have been on a steady upward climb. The “education gaps” are smaller today than they were 30 years ago.
NAEP scores for the Los Angeles Unified School District have gone up steadily as well, as have our state test scores.
More American students in general and across ethnic and social groups are graduating high school today, and more students are taking a college prep curriculum.
America’s teachers and students are working harder than ever. We rarely read positive reports on these improvements by our public education system.
Oh, and all this started and has happened in spite of the “reformers,” not because of them.
John Perez
North Hollywood
The writer, a member of the California Postsecondary Education Commission, was president of United Teachers Los Angeles from 2002 to 2005.
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