What has caused the deterioration of LAUSD schools? (how much, educational)

[rob3gd]

Originally Posted by JohnG72

The above is not correct.

LAUSD schools started declining hard a couple decades ago.

I used to watch the school board meetings(it was on public access tv) when "Hurricane" Jackie Goldberg was the board president. Considering I was quite young at the time, clearly I have a screw loose Anyway, I became entralled because the topics and policies discussed were so over the top ridiculous.

I'm very sure that the problems started prior to this, but the meetings I used to watch were the epitomy of social engineering...basically the tenor was one of "well if the kids aren't being taught xyz at home, we've gotta do it".

I've actually received hate pm's here on CD in the past for posting that LAUSD ought not be involved in social engineering and ought to instead focus on the three R's. But indeed that is what would turn LAUSD around. Look, LAUSD is always going to lag a bit due to the very large numbers of ESL students. But LAUSD should not be nearly as far behind as it is. The way to fix it is:

-Stop busing.
-Cut the administrative budget immediately. Break up LAUSD into smaller subdistricts if that will help cut costs and/or make things more efficient.
-Make the charter school process as simple as possible.
-Develop and maintain a minimum school track for graduation and one for graduation with emphasis on meeting UC/Cal State entrance requirements.
-Emphasize Math/English/Science/Economics as a core ciriculumn and de-emphasis social studies/humanities.

If I wasn't able to get bussed out, I would of went to Locke High School, the worst high school in America with an 80% drop out rate. Thank God for busing because I actually got an education. Sorry if you don't think that I should come to your neighborhood because i want to learn and have a future.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by quixotic59

See:

No Child Left Behind Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Fi...et_14732_7.pdf

Maybe This Is Why Attacking Teachers Is So Popular…And Why It’s So Important To Speak Positively About Our Students | Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…

Attacking teachers hurts our nation - phillyBurbs.com : Yardley: guest opinion, education, teachers,

don't beleive all the propaganda you read. I lived in Los Angeles and surrounding areas for over 40 years, the school system was heading south as early as the 50s and 60s, way before anything resembling "no kid left behind". There were good schools, especailly around Eagle Rock and the valley but the inner city schools, even Highland Park for instance had problems. Add to that most metro, urban areas have suffered since the unbelievable growth after WW2. Pasadana schools were rated close to the top in the nation at one time. It is attitudes like what you are pushing that has done as much damage as anything else. Add to all this, when so many students don't even speak English and so homes are headed by single moms or dad's and kids are not taught the value of an education, trouble lies ahead. You can spend as much as you want per student, cut class size to 15 or 20 per teacher, give into the union requests but until the home lives of children improve, kids are encouraged to do well in school and we stop holding their hands every step of the way, our educational system isn't going to improve.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by JohnG72

Although hyperbolic a bit, this post makes some good points. The temple City/Arcadia comparison is a bit unfair as there are cultural factors at play with a majority Asian population. A better comparison might be Lakewood or Long Beach where the diverse population mirrors LA yet the scools there consistently perform much better than LAUSD schools.

This is why busing needs to end. LAUSD needs to establish more middle and high schools that perform at a reasonable level. Right now, only open high schools in Woodland Hills and Eagle Rock meet that mark as well as a few Charter Schools. Ending busing would provide inventive for local parents in Northridge, Westchester, Mar Vista, West LA, and other middle and upper income areas that have poor performing public schools.

Eagle Rock has always been toward the top of the list. In the 50s they had the highest number of graduating students seeking higher education than any other high school in the district, followed by Verdugo Hills highschool. Why they were part of L.A. I do not know.

Just to clear one thing up a bit: someone mentioned the district has been going down hill for a couple of decades, it has been longer than that, much longer. It did start closer to 50 years ago, but became very noticable toward the end of the 20th century...

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Here is how I would fix the problem:

1. Get rid of the State Teachers union. They protect bad teachers that don't care about the kids and are there just for a paycheck. On top of that LAUSD has upwards of 900 teachers that get a paycheck but don't even teach because the Union says you can not fire them.

2. Get rid of teachers that don't perform. This shouldn't be too hard. How many other jobs would allow an employee to continue working when they were not doing the job they were paid to do? The numbers are stagering within LAUSD of the amount of kids that don't graduate and many because they can not read, write, or do basic math problems. This didn't just happen in High School all of a sudden. Somewhere along the way, before they started in high school the kids were shortchanged by ineffective teachers.

3. Reduce the amount of administrative staff. LAUSD is burried in Administration. elimiate it, reduce it, get rid of it. While your at it reduce the amount of counselors that the district has. LAUSD is a top heavy administrative monster that has way to many people that do not teach kids.

4. Teach kids the basics, reading, writing, Math (and not just basic math, algebra, Trig, Calculus) Teach them geometry, physics, science, biology, microbiology, everything that will prepare them to enter college. Plenty of jobs out there and no one to take them because we don't teach our kids the right things.

5. Get politics out of the classroom. We have been and continue to teach our kids shady science. We teach them to clean up the Earth, that business is bad, that it is OK to be Gay. These are all political issues and have no place in the classroom.

6. Parents need to take a more active role in teaching their kids.

[git45]

Originally Posted by sdflip

I think you are also forgetting about Prop 13. Before this initiative passed in 1978, the school districts had more per pupil spending and transportation for local kids. Now our state constitutional restraints hamstring the education budget by reallocating property tax revenues based (at least partly) on average daily attendance. Also, the education budget is one of the few large items left that can be touched- and so it is. Now, no buses ( for locals) even for field trips, not to mention the teacher furlough days and cuts to arts and physical education. If I could choose, I would send my kids to Beverly Hills schools, because they are one of the very few self financing districts in the state.

^ Right on the money. Prop 13 has wrecked Cali's educational system. It makes Prop 8 look like a petition to stop feeding ducks in the park. Evil evil evil.

[bhcompy]

Originally Posted by git45

^ Right on the money. Prop 13 has wrecked Cali's educational system. It makes Prop 8 look like a petition to stop feeding ducks in the park. Evil evil evil.

Except that Prop 13 happened because they took money away from local schools. Do your homework

[Marv101]

The passage of Prop. 98 in 1988, a measure created by the teachers unions, mandated that 40% of state revenue go into education regardless of whether the state's economy is thriving or tanking.

When times are good and Sacramento receives a gusher of unexpected revenue, they rarely put it away but frequently blow it on something else, and our Democrat-dominated legislature does a better job at rolling over for their most important masters (prison guards/environmentalists/civil service unions) than any other outfit in the USA, with apologies to the equally worthless legislatures in Albany, Springfield Trenton, and elsewhere.

The LAUSDs long-running policy in which seniority trumps competency (first hired=last fired) is another disaster; when layoffs are needed due to plunging revenues and/or spending sprees that would make Warren Buffett jealous, the newest teachers are always the first to go.

Many of them are frequently much better than the neanderthals who are protected by their contracts, so the newbies leave the district and head for the suburbs, where the schools are substantially superior to those within LA County, and especially in most of Ventura & Orange Counties, and a huge chunk of NW San Bernardino Country.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by Marv101

and a huge chunk of NW San Bernardino Country.

you probably meant SW SBD County. Ain't nothing but Trona and bombing ranges in NW SBD County.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by git45

^ Right on the money. Prop 13 has wrecked Cali's educational system. It makes Prop 8 look like a petition to stop feeding ducks in the park. Evil evil evil.

did you live in the Los Angeles school district pre and post Prop 13? I doubt it...When will people stop blaming the past on the present? Prop 13 is responsible for everything, right? Bush is responsible for everything, right? and the Devil made us do it?

The problems in the L.A. schools have been around for 50 years, they have just gotten worse. Have you checked to see what kind of problems exist in the NYC schools or the ratings in Chic or Miami? How about Albuquerque, did prop 13 create a drop out rate that is off the charts? Urban locations have lousy schools for the most part. So do small rural communities. upscale cities, with a high rate of college educated families have better schools. It isn't prop 13, it isn't how much is spent per pupill, it isn't any of these things: good schools start with good parenting, followed by dedicated teachers that have chosen teaching because they truely love kids and want to make a difference. Why do you think charter schools, for the most part are more successful than public schools?

[Charles]

A lot of low test score performance probably has to do with a lot of ESL kids.

Los Angeles Unified School District is 9% (that's nine percent) white.

Hispanic, 73% (lots of ESL I would think)
Black 11%
Asian 4%

from

Test Scores for Los Angeles Unified School District | GreatSchools