Redondo Shores Teacher: Sure. . . .You can improve schools

Paul White is getting the classic treatment.

He came in dedicated to doing what he could to clean up major problems on a troubled campus. He was selected to improve a school in complete disrepair. He did his job, and now he's getting punished for it. What is the source of the problem in many schools, which prevents students from receiving the learning, the security, and the guidance which they crave?

The school bureaucracy, lead by the superintendent and his minions, followed by the unreachable directors, coordinators, and hyphenated administrators who influence little that takes place in the classroom.

They want to keep the higher-ups happy. They want to keep enrollment up. They refuse to deal with abusive students, lest the staff raise the ire of touchy parents, who in turn will play the race card or sue. Schools are all about drawing in state funds at any cost, even if that means passing students have not earned passing grades and tolerating rampant disrespect.

Instead of working with teachers, they negotiate with unions, entrenched interests which seek their own ends, not the best interests of the teachers they claim to represent or the students whom they claim to serve.

Beyond the apparent contradiction between boastful claims and subtle action, the greatest fraud perpetrated at all levels in public education is the misuse and corruption of public funds--the biggest scandal which Mr. White was apparently about to expose. There is no accountability in spending, from the district offices which siphon off huge funds to subsidize larger office and exorbitant salaries for do-nothing bean-counters, to the unnecessary regulations which frustrate efficiency and innovation in the classroom and throughout every school. Let's not forget the cozy-conflict relationship between school boards and teachers' unions, which create fat paychecks for uninvolved school board members and enormous pensions and health care benefits for school staff, all of which become and onerous burden for taxpayers who have yet to see their kids receiving any education for their tax dollars.

All of this miasma, once again brought to the fore by the well-meaning advocacy of a tough teacher using tough love to toughen students out of their arrogant complacency.

Mr. White, I am proud of the work that you did on behalf of the continuation students of Redondo Beach. I certainly hope that you will find a more fitting placement for your dedication and skills in the future.