Readers React: The public-service mission of UCLA’s new Geffen Academy

To the editor: I want to correct some misperceptions about the Geffen Academy at UCLA. (“UCLA’s new Geffen-funding private school smacks of elitism,” Readers React, Nov. 15)

The academy will be an independent school accountable to a public institution that has a record of developing innovative curriculum and partnering with the Los Angeles Unified School District to enhance K-12 educational excellence.

At least half of the enrollment will be children of families from greater Los Angeles. A robust financial-aid program for low- and middle-income students will ensure socioeconomic and ethnic diversity.

The academy will be part of a network of schools where UCLA develops new educational practices and shares what works with those likewise committed to equity and access. Among the network are UCLA Community School — an L.A. Unified pilot school in Koreatown where the college-going rate has tripled in five years — a second community school planned in South Los Angeles and UCLA Lab School, whose model guides the academy.

We have a rich history of public service, and we are eager to extend that legacy with the Geffen Academy.

Gene D. Block, Los Angeles

The writer is chancellor of UCLA.

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