Education Experts Sit Behind the Wrong Desks

Re “Better Ways to Cut Schools’ Budgets,” letters, Jan. 8: The L.A. Unified School District has a unique opportunity to become a model for educational excellence even as it deals with its own budget squeeze. Over the last two years the LAUSD has added scores of “educational support” positions in the schools and mini-districts, such as math coaches, literacy coaches, staff development coordinators and subject-area specialists. At the same time, some schools have been deemed “failing” by the state.

Move these experts out of their desk jobs and send them all to reconstitute a single “failing” school, where they can put their knowledge to practical use. Then that school will become a model of instructional superiority that other teachers from the school district can come observe. Instead of having these experts coming to my school and telling me how to be a good teacher, I could go to their model school to see how it is done.

Daniel Adler

Mathematics Teacher

South Gate High School