CA schools show some improvement

Larry your comment about the generational gap in education especially among immigrant communities is right on. We need to undertake a program of educating parents so they can become good consumers of education. Often they do not know how to evaluate the quality of their childrens experience or the processes available to them for requesting better service. Let's educate the parents as well!

It is a shame. I have a neighbor who is a school teacher for the LAUSD. I asked her why she taught in a school that is so far away, we live about 40 miles from her school. She was very blunt and said it was for the money, she said she chooses the second grade because there is no home work and she said she has two helpers in the class room and that wallows her to sit in the back of the class. I am not making that up, if anyone is interested in pursuing this story, may Aldelfo?? I can give her name and address. I think this is what is wrong with the LAUSD

Did he say the school starts at 6.50? Are my ears playing tricks with me childern have to be at school for 6.50?
If this is true how can you question below par results - the kids are too tired for school.
By the way your queston - no this isn't the way; leave the police out of this. If pupils are consistantly absent from school you then approach the parents about truancy. Ticketing kids and curfews only turn the place into a police state and the way to keep children at school is to make school attractive and interesting and to make school start at a decent time - maybe 8.30 like other countries. The times are only early to satisfy the bus companies (previous stories on NPR The World refers).
I cannot believe childern will be placed in handcuffs for being late to school - and you are not shocked!!!

Larry Mantle,

As I listen to your program, I'm appalled at the way we as a society have been trying to solve our education problems by applying more of law-and-order approach to the detriment of the entire education system. Getting our students hand cuffed because they got to school a bit late? Do I understand this correctly? If I do, I am more than shocked and disappointed with those setting these draconian policies to secure more funds for the State. On the API scores, we must be aware of the measures we use and how we arrive at them because we will finally become what we measure.

For example, one abuse of rules and measures is the School Boundary Rule.

I find the School Boundary Rule is a rule designed to ensure budgetary gains for certain public schools, to raise falsely State’s Academic Performance Index (API) for non-performing public schools through forcing academically superior students to attend those schools, and to increase real estate property prices in the vicinity of well-marketed schools. School Boundary Rule is a rule whose enforcement requires academic institutions engage in gathering "facts" by non-ethical/unethical means of prying into private lives of citizens and their living arrangements, and interpreting those "facts" as they see fit. School Boundary Rule is a rule that torments our gifted and talented students by depriving them freedom to choose the public schools they wish to attend. School Boundary Rule is nothing but an abhorrent rule against public policy and thus must be discarded right away.