Readers React: LAUSD school in Porter Ranch shows the importance of parent involvement

To the editor: Surprise, surprise: Students at Porter Ranch Community School, a Los Angeles Unified School District campus, are doing extremely well. When a student body is made up of the children of well-to-do, educated parents who are interested in their children’s education, those students do well. (“Families are choosing this L.A. school over privates and charters,” Oct. 25)

There is no such thing as a “failing school.” There are only schools with student bodies of mostly lower socioeconomic, English-learning children whose parents have not given them the message that school is important.

When will the American public understand that if all students are to do well in public school, their basic social and economic needs must be addressed first?

Nancy Cooper, Moorpark

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To the editor: Has the pendulum truly begun to swing?

First, President Obama says he wants to limit standardized testing to 2% of classroom time, a hopeful correction. Then, The Times showcases a thriving public school, an L.A. Unified non-charter, non-magnet school that allows a “dynamic” principal to encourage teachers to create curriculum.

The results — test scores and the like — are so surprising!

I will suppress my sense of irony to call attention to another factor: Porter Ranch is a moneyed suburb of Los Angeles. Location and context mean what some have been telling us for a long time. Still, it is good to see the media attending to creativity and dynamism of professionals, even within this context.

Cultivating true professionalism in schools throughout the city and beyond, rather than allowing it only in Porter Ranch, is more than a pendulum swing; it is the mission.

Lynne Culp, Van Nuys

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To the editor: Wow, I am impressed by what my neighborhood families are able to pay for the education of their children (the article mentions that the school’s parents raise $150,000 annually).

Too bad our taxes can’t help out other city schools so less fortunate families could get a good education for their children.

Frances Sikorski, Porter Ranch

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