Health & Fitness
Parents tell LAUSD it’s my child and my choice support charter schools.
Do you think parents know what's best for their children? LAUSD Board Member Steve Zimmer does not think so. He wants to take away a parents right to choose a good school for your own kids.
By Elsa Zuniga
I am writing this first and foremost as a mother, but also as a native of South Gate, a graduate of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and as a parent leader at my daughter’s charter school.
Recently, LAUSD Board Member Steve Zimmer proposed a resolution to not allow any new charter schools in the district and to also make a new committee in addition to the one in place to oversee charter schools and create more red tape and bureaucracy. I attended the LAUSD board meeting on Sept. 11 with more than 300 other parents to speak out against this resolution and I would like to share my own story to encourage more parents to speak out. I hope the LAUSD board will listen.
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I live in the same neighborhood where I grew up. The schools weren’t good when I was a student and 23 years later, they’re still not good. I see the same problems repeating over and over and over again. Last year, I chose to put my daughter in a charter school because of my experiences as a student in LAUSD and the frustrations I experienced when my own daughter started kindergarten at an LAUSD school.
I had horrible experiences as a student in LAUSD. I’ve always struggled in school and I didn’t know why. I thought, “Maybe I’m just stupid. That’s what my teachers would tell me anyway.” My daughter attended an LAUSD elementary school from Kinder to first grade. She has always struggled to focus in class and her teachers always complained that she wasn’t paying attention. I asked for help, but they didn’t have any answers or suggestions. I did my own research and ended up having to file a formal request for them to evaluate her for ADHD – which they denied even though she already had an IEP for speech therapy. The school psychologist actually said to me, “What good will come from getting that diagnosis? How is that going to help?” When my daughter finally was evaluated, it turned out she did have ADHD and, in the process of helping her, I found out that I have ADHD as well. So I am not stupid like my teachers told me, I have a learning disability and so does my daughter.
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I will not stand by and let what happened to me happen to my daughter as well.
So last year, I found a little charter school called Academia Moderna with smaller classes, that was willing to work with us. They’re not just helping her achieve her education goals, steering her towards independence despite the ADHD but to think globally and not just about our little world in South Gate and what it means to be a good citizen. The best part is that they listen to my concerns and respond. It’s such a difference. All of the parents really care about their children and their educational goals. It feels like we’re working together WITH the school to support our kids.
Charter schools aren’t perfect, but they’re willing to work on it and fix the problem where LAUSD is not. The district wants to cookie-cutter all the children, but they don’t all learn the same way. LAUSD can learn from the charter schools. The district should give teachers more flexibility to reach each child and welcome parent involvement. Before they try to reform charter schools and try to fix a problem where one does not exist, they need to reform their own schools. It has been twenty plus years, don’t you think it is time?
It’s not that I’m 100% against LAUSD. Parents also have to step up if we want to improve our schools. Many of us are willing to put in the effort. All we ask is that the schools meet us half way. And, so far that has not happened.
On Nov. 13th, the LAUSD board will vote on Zimmer’s resolution against charter schools. I hope they will listen to parents and vote no. I’m from South Gate, but all our communities have the same problems – from Lynwood to Huntington Park and beyond. We need to get serious about education and turn around our schools. Parents are willing to step up. Will LAUSD?