Break Up LAUSD to Put Communities in Charge
It is hard to believe that there are still some out there who would defend the Gargantuan Los Angeles Unified School District as a viable entity. Cory O’Connor (Valley Commentary, Jan. 1) argues against breaking the system up into smaller, fully autonomous units.
Apparently O’Connor and his shipmates on the Titanic have failed to understand that schools and education are basically community affairs. Without community involvement, our schools are little more than warehouses for the storage of children until they turn 18. Then they can be sent out to seek unskilled work, apply for welfare or work the streets.
While I appreciate the fact that many volunteer hours went into the development of the LEARN program, neither it nor any other program can be made to work within the unworkable structure of the LAUSD. Last year’s Arthur Anderson audit of the system showed only the tip of the iceberg when it revealed the inefficiencies, waste and counter-incentives of the LAUSD system.
By contrast Vaughn Street, Fenton Avenue and the Palisades Education Complex charter schools showed us what can happen when local schools are released from the shackles of the LAUSD bureaucracy. Even those in challenging neighborhoods can provide quality education and develop community and parental interaction.
The current system perpetuates trickle-down, politically correct policies whose headquarters lie in Washington. Broad policies of social engineering, educational revisionism and not-so-subtle political indoctrination permeate our local schools. This is done with the force of the LAUSD and the endorsement of the all-powerful teachers unions.
By contrast, board members in smaller, autonomous districts not only are better able to evolve community-based education, but they are also able to be elected in door-to-door, grass-roots community campaigns. This results in schools that are extensions of the community rather than schools that are dominated by a single, central “government-knows-best†bureaucracy.
It is time to create “chartered clusters†of community schools. We need to dissolve the LAUSD board, eliminate the costly bureaucracy, and allow the local communities of Los Angeles to each decide what is best for their children.
BOB SCOTT
Sherman Oaks
Scott is the chairman of Valley Citizens for Local Unified Education, which supports a breakup of the Los Angeles Unified School District.
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