Speak Out
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Monica G May 16, 2013 at 01:36 pm
I have also encountered similar such LACKS in service on my street...however, I do NOT excuse even…Read More ONE missed day because I am being charged for the service to be completed on a weekly basis, and I shouldn't have to go out of my way to call to have that service carried out. Street cleaning is another CHARGED service that is now routinely carried out bi-monthly instead of weekly (supposedly due to furloughs and budget cuts), yet I am still being charged the same monthly fee. If the city expects us to either do the service ourselves (i.e. sweeping the street on their furlough days) or find ways to carry out city-provided (and charged) services ourselves, then they had better give us a refund, or offer us the option of privatizing the service. Most unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County (such as Rowland Heights, Whittier, etc) have outsourced their city services such as trash collection. There are many limitations, such as bulky items are only picked up on one city-wide scheduled day per year, however, how many times per year do we use the bulky item pick up. The service is also not much cheaper than what we now pay...however, it IS consistent, and rarely to never miss a day. I think there are certain cases where your entire block can privatize it's services, such as trash, but I'm not sure how to go about it.
LA Momma March 5, 2013 at 01:32 am
I met Steve Zimmer a few months ago when he was feeding homeless kids. There was no press, no major…Read More donors around, much less parents - these were throw away kids and Steve was there for them. I think that says a LOT about his character and how you can expect him to care about *all*of the students. Not jus a few, not just those whose parents complain the loudest, but those for whom NO ONE speaks. Plus, he was a teacher. If goodness and public service don't earn your vote, then public education is really in trouble.
Deborah Lashever March 4, 2013 at 05:25 am
Read this about why billionaires form other cities are funding Kate Anderson:…Read More
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/los-angeles-public-education_b_2798894.html?utm_hp_ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#.UTQc_h3Jamc.facebook
Richard Landers February 12, 2013 at 12:40 am
Last piece...
From Ms. Anderson’s perspective, the issue in the District 4 election is better…Read More schools, whatever their organizational structure. She doesn’t see charters as some kind of silver bullet but recognizes that they have proved that they can be part of the solution. Voters should look for candidates who support the changes that will give every child a good education, whether they attend a successful traditional middle school in Palms or a successful charter school in South Los Angeles.
I think LAUSD is broken and needs political leaders like Ms. Anderson who are prepared to embrace change. Ms. Roos thinks it is doing well and supports Mr. Zimmer and its other defenders. You be the judge.
Thanks for reading. Richard
Richard Landers February 12, 2013 at 12:40 am
Third of four...
In addition to urging Patch readers to take the time to get acquainted with the…Read More realities of public education beyond the Westside, I also want to protest the ad hominem attacks on Ms. Anderson and her supporters that are often made by anti-reformers. It is truly reprehensible to assert that the fact that Ms. Anderson has supporters who have contributed to her campaign is proof of evil intentions. I am a supporter of Ms. Anderson as are many of my friends. All of us are committed to public education – most of us grew up in it, many are personally active in supporting it – and I have not met a single individual in this group who favors “a fractious system that would divide the education of our children into "separate but equal" camps”. Yes, just like Mr. Zimmer’s supporters, all of us want good educations for our children. (Indeed, many of us tried – albeit unsuccessfully – to get our kids into the highly sought after Lab School at UCLA that Ms. Roos’s children attended.) Further, as citizens, and, in many cases, business people in Los Angeles, we are acutely aware that we have large stakes not just in our own children’s education but the education of all of children.
Richard Landers February 12, 2013 at 12:39 am
Second of 4...
I have been a volunteer and supporter of five or six different charter school…Read More organizations in non-Westside Los Angeles and my view of LAUSD is very different from that of UCLA Lab/Palms Middle and Mr. Zimmer. In the Los Angeles that these charter schools serve, there is no “white-lining of certain schools where only a certain slice of society is allowed to matriculate”, there are only poor immigrant families whose only choices are the charters or indisputably failed traditional LAUSD schools. These charter schools provide a superior education to as many families as they can, limited not by any cherry picking - academic, ethnic or otherwise - but only by the resource constraints imposed by people like Mr. Zimmer, who see change to the status quo as threatening.
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