A wake-up call to schools in South L.A.

Re “Crenshaw High Parents Get Promise of Improvements,� Aug. 24

As a college counselor who has provided an after-school program at Crenshaw since February 2004, I firmly believe that Crenshaw is up to the task of getting back its accreditation.

The removal of Crenshaw’s accreditation is a definite wake-up call for all South L.A. high schools. Educators should not protect status quo methods of operating schools (it’s not working!); students and parents must take more responsibility; community groups need to go beyond lip service and truly contribute to their schools’ success, and local colleges have a stake in investing in the welfare of its future students from feeder schools.

Crenshaw has a rich history and support base. This school year, the rubber meets the road for many schools in Los Angeles Unified. If any high school in South L.A. can rise to the challenge and provide a working model for the rest, I believe it is the Crenshaw family.

MICHAEL HOPPER

Los Angeles

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School District Supt. Roy Romer has a lot of nerve to stand up before concerned parents and say we will solve the problems together and this will never happen again. It should never have happened in the first place.

I was never a big fan of private schools, but now I think schools like Steve Barr’s Green Dot [charter schools] may be the answer. They can certainly make no bigger mess than Romer and his cronies have done.

JAN CURRY

Los Angeles