Our Readers Write
School board election needs contest of ideas
“Your son got Mrs. X for math? She hasn’t rewritten tests since two textbooks ago. My daughter had her last year — a total nightmare.”
It’s no secret: There are superstar teachers and dud teachers in La Cañada Unified School District — many parents can name them. Yet the district continues to be strong-armed into pretending these differences don’t exist.
The teachers union contract with the district constrains the school board and administrators, limiting the district’s ability to enforce best practices against the will of teachers, to compensate them based on merit, and more.
A contract of more than 100 pages limits schools’ management toward promoting student achievement, resulting in only about three tenured teachers’ dismissal in 12 years. While our district has much to be proud of, it can do more.
For example, the district negotiated better teacher observations, but failed to address major concerns: (1) the contract permits infrequent evaluations and rampant self-evaluation; (2) the board took years to demand previous evaluation data, and it’s unclear who will own the results of new observations; and (3) evaluation outcomes appear to remain inconsequential.
There are consequences, however. Hillside Learning Center remains an attractive way to fill gaps, and while we can continue to promote the status quo by trumpeting our relative success on standardized tests in California, the absolute values of our scores should alarm a community as committed to education as ours. Five-year averages of LCUSD students meeting (exceptionally minimal) statewide standards dip as low as 54% in some subjects.
These issues are not new, but the need for effective action has never been more urgent. In good times, ineffective management is worrisome; in bad times, it’s destructive. Yet we have upcoming school board elections, with only two candidates so far expressing interest in two seats.
We must have a vigorous election, as we can ill afford a virtual coronation. We must have a contest of ideas, rather than more promises of more money to deliver more of the same. We must add voices to provoke this conversation and we must do so before the filing deadline — even if I have to do it myself.
Andrew Blumenfeld
La Cañada Flintridge
Two kittens that need a lot of love
Last Thursday morning Happy Strays Rescue rescued a 10-week-old kitten named Sunny from a parking lot in the 700 block of Foothill Boulevard. The poor kitten had been hit by a car and needed emergency surgery to fix his dislocated jaw.
He was very skinny, weighing only 1.1 pounds, while a healthy kitten of the same age would weigh about 3 pounds. Luckily, with the help of Animal Medical Hospital in Pasadena, little Sunny is alive and doing better. He has gained almost 3 pounds and his jaw is healing quickly. As Happy Strays Rescue looks for a home for Sunny, the rescue is also looking for donations from the community to help cover his medical expenses. Any donations can be sent to P.O. Box 12, La Cañada, CA, 91011 and all donations are tax-deductible.
Sunny is a very sweet and playful little boy, and all he wants is a permanent home. Due to his accident, his jaw is a little crooked, but please don’t let that turn you away.
The first day Sunny was introduced to other foster kittens, he immediately bonded with foster sister Hope. Hope is a 4-month-old “Torbie” and is very beautiful. Now that Sunny and Hope are both ready for homes, they would love to be adopted together. Please help us find these two babies homes soon.
If you are interested in adopting Hope or Sunny (or both) or would like more information on them, please contact me via email at Lexie@happystrays.org.
Lexie Dreyfuss
La Cañada Flintridge