Mayor’s bid to take over schools hits opposition

Re “Mayor’s School Takeover Would Bypass Local Voters,” April 19

As a longtime resident of Los Angeles, I mistakenly expected the mayor to address numerous city problems, i.e. traffic, street repair, the homeless situation and similar issues in his State of the City address. Instead, he announces his plan to take over the Los Angeles Unified School District. Even more interesting is the fact that he will not ask the voters who elected him to assist him in this project. Instead, he will go to the Legislature to accomplish his goal. If he had cited successes during his first nine months to lend weight to his current undertaking, it might be more credible. None were cited because none exist. I think that the mayor should attempt to demonstrate competence at his current job before looking for new worlds to conquer.

JOHN S. NELSON

Los Angeles

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As a retired L.A. Unified teacher, I am appalled that the mayor believes he can run the district. To go to the Legislature for authority to run the city’s public schools is frightening. To take the decision on how the district is to be managed out of the jurisdiction of those it serves -- the local electorate -- is equally alarming. Substituting one bureaucracy for another is not a satisfactory means to better education. For too long, educators have allowed those with political interests to dictate what and how to teach. Now is the time for teachers everywhere to stand for sound educational principles and take back the classroom. Only then will the students achieve an education -- not while a mayor or governor or any other bureaucrat is vying for power.

PEG SPRY

Agua Dulce

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As a 13-year teaching veteran of L.A. Unified, I am all for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa taking over our school district, on one condition: that he pull his children out of private school and enroll them in the district. Then there could be no doubt that his intentions are for the good of public school students rather than for his own political gain.

DENNIS DANZIGER

Los Angeles

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Re “The mayor goes to school,” editorial, April 19

“But it may be the most ambitious feasible plan, or the most feasible ambitious plan, for holding the schools accountable.” This line from your editorial supporting the mayor’s plan to take over schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District was only a little more shocking than the fact that you are generally supportive of his honor’s power grab. Does L.A. Unified need reforming at every level, from the administration through the union through the classroom? Absolutely. Does it need to sacrifice democracy for dictatorship to accomplish this? Absolutely not. Do our children need to be pawns in our mayor’s upwardly bound political ambitions? Again, absolutely not. The Times needs to do some serious rethinking of its position on this issue.

JIM TURNER

Granada Hills