Letters to the Editor: The state of LAUSD? Falling test scores. Declining enrollment. Chronic absenteeism
To the editor: Well, the state released test scores for public school students, and the news isn’t very good. It appears summer school support had little effect, and so-called intensive tutoring that costs millions of dollars did not move the needle much.
Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic was damaging. A few short strikes in Los Angeles were also distracting. Science scores don’t seem good either.
The Los Angeles Unified School District added a few extra days of optional schooling, but hardly any students attended. Statewide, the rate of chronic absenteeism among students is 30%.
Enrollment is declining. Bond money is drying up, but we want to green all the schools in LAUSD by digging up their asphalt playgrounds. Aspirations are high, hopes are good, but the implementation of it all seems a bit anemic given the experience, intelligence and goodwill of the district’s superintendent and board of education.
David Tokofsky, Eagle Rock
The writer is a former LAUSD teacher and school board member.
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To the editor: Two school years after the pandemic school shutdowns, student achievement is still significantly behind pre-COVID-19 levels.
Shutting down schools in California clearly had a significant and apparently lasting effect on student learning and achievement. Was it worth it?
David Waldowski, Laguna Woods
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To the editor: I have three grandchildren in the LAUSD.
The child in elementary school spent all of last year without a regular teacher, only a series of long-term substitutes.
The child in middle school has one class without any teacher, just an aide who plays videos and has students read their textbooks in class.
The child in high school had a teacher who quit near the start of the school year and has yet to be replaced.
And these are schools are in West L.A.; I can’t imagine what’s happening in the less well-off neighborhood schools.
No wonder scores are falling.
Maggie Anton, Los Angeles
