Opinion: School-choice statute is in the crossfire

To the editor: Our children have been attending DOC schools for the past six years, and each year our family has to adapt to make it work; I’ve made arrangements with my employer to work alternate schedules, we’ve carpooled, and now our children are old enough to safely navigate the public bus or the city shuttle.

( “School choice bill is blocked,” Aug. 30)

Your article references a statement from Assembly Chairwoman Lorena Gonzalez, in which she wrote the choice law “exacerbates the unequal system of haves and have-nots in our public schools.”

It is not about the haves and have-nots, it’s about having choices in our children’s education.

Our children previously attended elementary school in our home district, but low API scores and other inequities led us to apply for the DOC program.

Now, our children have been exposed to music class, college prep courses and they participate in sports programs.

Our children expect to complete their education at their DOC school and graduate with their classmates, however Gonzalez has refused to let school choice come up for a vote in the Assembly’s Appropriations Committee.

Jennifer Teutonico, Covina

::

To the editor: While I certainly understand the arguments against school choice, the reality is that termination of, or substantive changes to, this program will have a minimal impact on California’s educational system, but will have a devastating financial effect on the participating districts and will dramatically affect families whose children go to school in them.

Families with multiple students in these districts will be required to juggle sending their kids to different school districts once one of them graduates from middle or elementary school, and students will be separated from their friends.

Oak Park Unified should be touted as one of California’s public educational success stories, not one targeted for financial ruin. Gonzales, who does not represent any of the major participating school districts, appears to be the one playing politics with our kids’ futures.

Jack Snyder, Oak Park

::

To the editor: After sending my son for 4 years to one of the highest performing elementary schools in LAUSD, I decided to switch him to a District of Choice school in Oak Park.

LAUSD schools are not set up to teach kids with different learning styles. Oak Park has a more hands-on, workshop approach to teaching.

The tuition for private schools in Los Angeles is $10,000 or more. This is cost prohibitive for many families that need something different from what is being offered at their neighborhood school.

District of Choice gives students the opportunity to thrive in public school.

This is a program that works for many families who otherwise wouldn’t have a choice.

Marion Hebert, Woodland Hills

::

To the editor: I was disappointed that the article lumped me and all the DOC parents into a category of having time and money to drive our kids to a better school, when in fact we make sacrifices and employ a host of tactics to make the DOC program work for our families.

If you want to lump us together, the commonality is that we are a motivated group of parents and caregivers who investigate our public school options and who have won a seat in random DOC lotteries.

We then choose the option that will best fit the needs of our children.

Suzanne White, Woodland Hills

::

To the editor: In your article about a state legislative committee blocking an extension of the “school district of choice law,” I think you are ignoring the stranglehold the teachers’ unions have on Sacramento and how much money they’ve contributed to members of the committee.

Anthony Oncidi, Los Angeles

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook