[0] 53 SCHOOLS TOO TIGHT TO SHRINK CLASSES.Byline: Terri Hardy Daily News Staff Writer Shrinking classes to just 20 students in primary grades is Gov. Pete Wilson's mission and California's hottest educational program. But a new list shows that class-size reduction won't be possible for 53 Los Angeles schools The Los Angeles School of Urbanism is an academic movement emerged during the mid-1980s, loosely based at the University of Southern California and UCLA, that poses a challenge to the dominant Chicago School of Urbanism. , including seven in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. , because they lack the space. That means some kindergartners and third-graders will have the luxury of smaller classes as soon as September, while those on the list will not. ``It makes it harder for kids to learn to be in such big classes,'' said Christine Ambler, whose daughter already started third grade at Canoga Park Elementary School elementary school: see school. , one of the campuses on the list. ``She should have the same chance as other kids at other schools.'' Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. administrators understand the inequity, but insist there is no short-term fix. ``It's very frustrating frus·trate tr.v. frus·trat·ed, frus·trat·ing, frus·trates 1. a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: that these schools can't participate and other schools can - but we've exhausted all the options,'' said Gordon Wohlers, assistant superintendent Assistant Superintendent, or Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), was a rank used by police forces in the British Empire. It was usually the lowest rank that could be held by a European officer, most of whom joined the police at this rank. for school and management initiatives. Wohlers said the district's options are clear: buy adjacent property and add portables, build new schools or remove bungalows at campuses and construct two-story additions. It's all possible with Proposition BB funds earmarked specially for class-size reduction, Wohlers said. ``We can see the light at the end of the tunnel,'' Wohlers said. ``It's not like we're in a situation where there's no space, no options and no money.'' Wilson also understands the dilemma faced by Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. and Orange county schools and is pushing to include in the state budget additional money so campuses can buy land or buildings. ``We're very sensitive, very aware of the problem, and we're trying to address it from a state perspective,'' said Dan Edwards Dan Edwards may be one of the following:
At Valley schools on the list, administrators and parents are frustrated frus·trate tr.v. frus·trat·ed, frus·trat·ing, frus·trates 1. a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: that children in third grade and kindergarten kindergarten [Ger.,=garden of children], system of preschool education. Friedrich Froebel designed (1837) the kindergarten to provide an educational situation less formal than that of the elementary school but one in which children's creative play instincts would be are not likely to be in small classes before the end of the century. ``We're dying to go to 20:1, but we know it's not possible,'' said Lankershim Elementary School Principal Sue Shannon. Inside the North Hollywood school, teacher Veronica Cervantes surveyed her 32 charges in the third- and fourth-grade class, with their hands held high in the air. She knows the benefits of a smaller class. Last year, she taught first grade and had only 20 students. ``It makes such a difference, there's so much more one-on-one instruction,'' she said. Bursting with 950 students, the small campus can't spare more blacktop, said Shannon. Bungalows have taken over a large portion of Lankershim's playground, providing just enough room to shrink grades one and two last year. Like many crowded schools, Lankershim operates under a court-order that protects its playground space. Last year, many schools received a waiver to cram portables on the blacktop, but school officials say that won't be possible this year. The school has decided not to try to carry out a partial class-size reduction in grade three by using three teachers for 60 students in two classrooms. While far from the ideal situation of having a small group of children in a classroom, state officials believe it is beneficial because it lowers the student/teacher ratio. But at Lankershim, team teaching in grade three might mean the school would be unable hire good instructors. Teachers would not have their own room and would be constantly cramped cramped adj. 1. Uncomfortably small or restricted: cramped living quarters. 2. Difficult to read, especially for being crowded into a small space: cramped handwriting. - with no bail-out in sight, Shannon said. District schools won't have the same control for kindergarten. All campuses are required to team-teach large groups of students. Over the next three years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time district believes that except at the 53 campuses, all its elementary schools will be able shrink classes in grades K-3. That angered some parents at Canoga Park Elementary. Gary Hall Gary Hall can refer to several people:
``I want my younger son to have the same opportunity in kindergarten,'' he said. Educators say they are resigned to the problem. They are more concerned with the district's long-term solution. ``We're plugging holes in the dike Dike, in Greek religion and mythology Dike: see Horae. dike, in technology dike, in technology: see levee. dike Bank, usually of earth, constructed to control or confine water. right now,'' said Al Cortes, principal at Oxnard Elementary School in North Hollywood. ``We need a long-term plan.'' Last year, Oxnard barely managed to squeeze four double bungalows on its already crampedplayground. ``It comes to a point where you can't have seven recesses, seven lunches and continue to pile people on top of each other,'' Cortes said. Last year's population surge, with the largest increase in the Valley, took school and city officials by surprise. The district has planned for new schools in typically crowded areas in the inner-city but is unprepared for the enrollment surge in the East Valley and mid-Valley, said David Tokofsky, a board of education member. ``The Valley is not a politically correct politically correct Politically sensitive adjective Referring to language reflecting awareness and sensitivity to another person's physical, mental, cultural, or other disadvantages or deviations from a norm; a person is not mentally retarded, but spot to get attention for new schools,'' Tokofsky said. ``The district believes that people in the Valley are living in luxury and space.'' Tokofsky has urged the creation of a master building plan, but says that none exists - four months after Proposition BB was approved. CROWDED SCHOOLS Seven San Fernando Valley schools are among 53 across the Los Angeles Unified School District that cannot cut class sizes any further because officials say there is no more space. Arminta Elementary School, North Hollywood Canoga Park Elementary School, Canoga Park Haddon Elementary School, Pacoima Langdon Elementary School, North Hills Lankershim Elementary School, North Hollywood Oxnard Elementary School, North Hollywood Van Nuys Elementary School, Van Nuys CAPTION(S): map Box: Crowded schools (see text) |
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