Abolishing the LAUSD (San Francisco, Oakland, Inglewood: how much, homes, neighborhoods)

[the one]

teen angst!!! i love it, yes blame the mexicans. thats why. fat mexicans. wow, this is our youth?
fat mexican girls and dumbells that conspire about them.

LAUSD has plenty of problems but the tide is changing. as schools get smaller and adapt to the shift typical in urban burgeoning communities the education standards will be at acceptable levels. its been the growing pains of such a desirable place like cali.
what i doubt tho is that a bunch of mexican girls running laps will increase scores at low performing schools. hum maybe if they learned english while they ran??? thats the answer... really its the switch to smaller learning communities that provide the same attention and focus necessary that will help students.

a behemoth district like LAUSD can also be sliced and diced. the southeast LA district, the eastside LA district, the south side district, but im sure that would only make it harder for those needy areas to get their hands in the deep pockets of malibu or the west side. honestly in order to ensure educational equality the poor areas need as much money that the rich ones have. once the playing field is level you can keep the poor kids out of the westchesters of LA. if in LAUSD, computer labs exist in the 'white nerdy but cool kid' schools then it should be the same in the 'poor but dont car about cool cuz bullets whiz by' schools as well. in the meantime just be happy they go home when the bell rings.

enough seats and books for kids will make a difference and once we have enough schools to get off this "no summer" schedule then more improvement will be seen. thanks for the laughs

[DontH8Me]

Originally Posted by the one

teen angst!!! i love it, yes blame the mexicans. thats why. fat mexicans. wow, this is our youth?
fat mexican girls and dumbells that conspire about them.

LAUSD has plenty of problems but the tide is changing. as schools get smaller and adapt to the shift typical in urban burgeoning communities the education standards will be at acceptable levels. its been the growing pains of such a desirable place like cali.
what i doubt tho is that a bunch of mexican girls running laps will increase scores at low performing schools. hum maybe if they learned english while they ran??? thats the answer... really its the switch to smaller learning communities that provide the same attention and focus necessary that will help students.

a behemoth district like LAUSD can also be sliced and diced. the southeast LA district, the eastside LA district, the south side district, but im sure that would only make it harder for those needy areas to get their hands in the deep pockets of malibu or the west side. honestly in order to ensure educational equality the poor areas need as much money that the rich ones have. once the playing field is level you can keep the poor kids out of the westchesters of LA. if in LAUSD, computer labs exist in the 'white nerdy but cool kid' schools then it should be the same in the 'poor but dont car about cool cuz bullets whiz by' schools as well. in the meantime just be happy they go home when the bell rings.

enough seats and books for kids will make a difference and once we have enough schools to get off this "no summer" schedule then more improvement will be seen. thanks for the laughs

Actually, the fantasy you described about all schools having the same funding and resources is just that - fantasy. I have done my research on many school districts by evaluation of their SARCs, and let me tell you - the amount per child spent on inner city schools is no different than the amount spent in "uppity" districts. The differentiator in students' results is PARENT ENVOLVEMENT, which is typically abysmal in inner cities. If the kids in the schools in the areas where "bullets whiz by" have new resources like computers placed, they are all vandalized and defaced in a New York minute.

There was a terrific post in the LA forum written first hand by a teacher who works for the LAUSD - she described quite vividly the issues in dealing with inner city school kids and the abuses they are now famous for.

I am glad that jessemh431 shared his firsthand information about his experiences and that his parents were able to resolve the issue of where to enroll him for his HS years.

Poverty is not an excuse for poor behavior and disrespecting school property and school staff, not to mention the mistreatment of other students.

[Vicman]

If the LAUSD boundaries had to change, I would add the small San Fernando Valley bit of LA that is in LVUSD (they get zoned to ECR) and the small portion of South Gate in Paramount USD and (I think) some other district.

I would then cut out portions of the following cities:
* Commerce (give to Montebello USD)
* Inglewood (give to Inglewood USD)
* Ranchos Palos Verdes (give to Palos Verdes Peninsula USD)

Perhaps some unincorporated sections like the West Compton and Willowbrook areas could be given to Compton USD.

IMO, though, the real way to make change in LAUSD is to ensure that schools in wealthy areas remain attractive for the clientele. The new schools should eliminate forced busing, and this should allow for Revere, Palisades, University, etc. to take greater control of their directions and student bodies.

[greggd]

Originally Posted by Vicman

IMO, though, the real way to make change in LAUSD is to ensure that schools in wealthy areas remain attractive for the clientele. The new schools should eliminate forced busing, and this should allow for Revere, Palisades, University, etc. to take greater control of their directions and student bodies.

I believe this was the main reason several parents started sending their kids to private schools in these areas. The lack of neighborhood kids probably meant more room for busing.

[LaoTzuMindFu]

It isnt so much of a LAUSD problem as it is a parents of students who attend LAUSD schools. This thread reeks of the same stench that was espoused by those who've been trying to break up the LAUSD for years by saying things like "its too big" or "Its failing" when in actually where they are trying to do is segregate their kids in the "nice" areas from the kids in the "not so nice" areas. Just like an earlier poster who said something about kids from Inglewood attending Westchester which chases away white kids from Playa Del Rey...... I think it boils down to parents fearing and not wanting their children to attend a school with heavy minority population. Its a thinly veiled level of racisim. Creating a level of "haves" and "have nots" schools.

I have a 12 year old 7th grader white son who's been in LAUSD since 2nd grade (after few years at pvt school) and is a highly gifted magnet student who gets straigh A's. He's doing well because WE his parents are involved and active in his education. It is not so much that LAUSD is failing, it is the parents who are failing.

The true problem is with the parents, NOT LAUSD. I went straight to Stanford after being in LAUSD my entire life. I will always support LAUSD and will fight to make sure it is not broken up.

[Charles]

Eliminate government (aka public schools, that is, schools controlled by politicians) schools altogether. All private. It is much cheaper per student. Much cheaper.

No more race problems.
No more religion in school problems.
No more sexuality/gender issue problems.
No more busing problems.

[katenik]

Originally Posted by Charles

Eliminate government (aka public schools, that is, schools controlled by politicians) schools altogether. All private. It is much cheaper per student. Much cheaper.

No more race problems.
No more religion in school problems.
No more sexuality/gender issue problems.
No more busing problems.

larry elder has been saying this for years, and i might be able to get on board IF everyone valued education enough to pay for it in some form. however, we don't live in that kind of a country. i used to be a teacher in a low-income area, and i know that there are poor people out there who will spend $100 a month or more for cable service in their government subsidized apartment, but will send their kids to school without basic supplies. they'll give their kids hundreds to rent limos and buy clothes to go to the prom in style, but they won't shell out a $15 admission fee or an educational field trip, or six bucks for the paperback edition of a piece of classic literature that isn't available in the sufficient quantity in the school book-room. others will keep their kids out of school for days or weeks to babysit, work, or vaction in mexico because the two or three-week school holiday that was scheduled two years in advance just wasn't enough time for them to plan properly so their kids don't miss instructional time! if these children didn't get a "free" public education, they would get none at all if i we left it up to their useless parents. our illiteracy rate is already ridiculous for a developed nation with universal public education, i would hate to see what would happen if people actually had to prioritize and budget so their kids could go to school.

[Charles]

Some cultures are agrarian; They don't value much more than a fifth grade education.

[_Charles_]

Gangs are a symptom not the problem. Gangs are opportunistic and only flourish where they are given the chance. American public school systems were designed to be run (and attended) locally. LAUSD is in trouble mostly because it is no longer local to neighborhood communities of interest. This “disconnect” between schools and home environments is disorienting for the kids and pushes many of them into an apathetic malaise. Breaking up the LAUSD so that it is once again local to communities of interest would indeed be the right solution.

[katenik]

Originally Posted by Charles

Some cultures are agrarian; They don't value much more than a fifth grade education.

this isn't one of them. we value education in theory, and pay it great lip-service, but that doesn't mean people are willing to pay for it. many will, perhaps most, even, but it's not their children that worry me.