School District Breakup
In its Oct. 31 editorial, “No Quick Fix for the Schools,†The Times was correct that breaking up the Los Angeles Unified School District will not be easy and that our children must be kept front and center in this debate. The Times however, confused Valley VOTE’s confidence that a positive solution can be found with our determination.
Valley VOTE has never taken a simplistic approach to any issue--especially not one that is as important as our children’s future. We have never said that breaking up the LAUSD bureaucracy would be simple--in fact, it is so complicated that we have set up an ad hoc study committee to examine all of its repercussions.
At the same time, the fact that breaking up the LAUSD brings up difficult issues is not an excuse to do nothing.
The nonpartisan California State Little Hoover Commission in a scathing report concluded “LAUSD to be a disturbingly dysfunctional organization--too large to serve its students, staffed by an overgrown and inbred bureaucracy, and governed by a narrow-minded board†and urged the development of alternatives, including the possible breakup of LAUSD into smaller districts. Just last week, even Supt. Ruben Zacarias recommended a proposal for 12 mini-districts within the district.
All over Los Angeles, parents are demanding more control over their children’s education, more accountability from their public schools, and are ready to show more responsibility for their children’s futures. And they don’t want to wait for the downtown bureaucrats to come up with yet another “master plan.†Nor can we afford the LAUSD crisis to get so bad that the state takes over control of the school district as it did in Compton. The Times should be encouraging the grass-roots efforts of parents, citizens and groups like Valley VOTE who are working for comprehensive and collaborative restructuring of the LAUSD.
Will breaking up LAUSD be simple? No. Is it time to go the extra mile to give our children a bright future even if it is difficult? You bet.
JEFF BRAIN
President, Valley VOTE
Sherman Oaks
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