Torpedoing a Top Science Program

Administrator Laurel Fretz , now the principal at Santa Monica High School, continues to wreak havoc on excellent, well-functioning academic programs. She recently placed the popular photography teacher there on administrative leave with no explanation to parents or students, cancelled the world-famous photographers he had lined up to speak to the program, and replaced him with a sub (for two months) who knew nothing about photography. Even as parents and students unanimously clamor for his return, and/or some explanation, the most she has done is bring in a new sub with better skills. We fear the teacher will not be reinstated. The only comment from Fretz and School Superintendent is that personnel matters cannot be discussed.

I am part of the first class to graduate from the MSA and it makes me sad to hear that the proogram has become something that it was not meant to become. These ignorant administrators have nothing better to do than just crush programs that do help students become succesful. Makes me sad to hear that former teachers from the MSA are no against the program instead of sticking with it and continuing the support that the program provides.

I find it ridiculous that administrators are this punitive toward teachers who are making a difference simply because they don't like being challenged. The collateral damage in this situation is the education of these kids who deserve the kind of teachers who will push them to set and attain these goals. It's pathetic.

This is a perfect example of why the Los Angeles Public School system is in shambles - GREED. The GREED of the ADMINISTRATORS to steal from the system instead of doing their job and making it about the kids. SHAME ON YOU. These teachers actually care about the students and YOU PUNISH THEM FOR IT. Why aren't the adminstrators subject to an audit of how they are spending funds and what they put in their own pocket?!

poop

I am where I am today because of MSA. I definitely would have never applied to schools outside of California had it not been for the Marine Science Academy. Through my four years there, I grew up to be the person I am today, a person devoted to fixing the system currently in place. I spent four years trying to create change on campus and I feel that I did so, with the help of my peers, during my senior year. We knew something had to be done and we acted. Through Sherman, Merritt, and Ichiroku, I learned so much more than I thought I was going to learn. This academy wasn't just a facade put on by the district to "teach" students about environmental policy. Alongside the other MSA staff-the Mais, Fuchs, Dutton, and the other former MSAers-they devised an academy that taught us about the importance about environmental policy WHILE learning strategies for getting into college. Through Ichiroku's senior seminar, we were FORCED to apply to college, FORCED to apply for scholarships. She never let us slack off. Because of this, many of us are currently at places we didn't foresee ever attending.

The protests/walkout at the end of last year (google it) are a testament to this. Through the plethora of college lessons, talks about the environment, stress about completing grade checks, anger about having to miss lunch to go to talks that benefited us in the end, and most importantly, harsh love, we reacted in a way not expected: we lawfully walked out of class. There were no injuries. There was no site damage. There were no threats to administrators (on behalf of the students at least. District personnel on the otherhand...). We wanted to show how important the teachers were to us. We wanted to show everyone that we were a school of students who cares deeply about their education. These protests lasted all week long and extended to the following week when they decided to put Merritt on administrative leave. What ended up happening? SHE WAS BROUGHT BACK THE FOLLOWING WEEK. What does this show you? It shows that the district is vindictive. They do not care about the well being of the students. We fought so many times to change the system and they simply shot us down. Comments made by members indicated they had no expectations of anything positive coming from us.

To the member of the Class of '09, sorry that Sherman's harsh love was detrimental to your well being. You stated that the facts in the article are false. Let's clarify:

"Erik Tamayo who went to MIT was kicked out of the Marine Science Academy and told that he was not going to succeed in life" I'm sure no one in the academy would've told someone like Erik Tamayo that he wasn't going to succeed. He was obviously a brilliant student who went through things in high school that should not be published online without his consent. Be courteous.

"Sherman... or the Sherman-ator was someone who belittled her students into a submission and shouldnt be praised for the way in which she frequently made her students cry by making them feel inferior. "

Ask most students today and they'll agree that her harsh love pushed them to continue with their education, pushed them to not give up, pushed them to graduate (sometimes the first in their families). Pain isn't always a negative thing; it helps us work harder and accomplish things we never thought we could accomplish. Trust me, I had many of those talks with Sherman and I am very glad that I did.

"Also the fact about 90% of their 125 being accepted to 4 year universities is false... as, in total, there were barely ever 125 students that walked the stage in 2009. "

Lawndale had a graduation rate of 89.8% in 2008. If the class of 2009 had a class size of, let's say, 250 (class of 2010 had a class size of about 290), then that amounts to about 225 graduating seniors. Make sure you do some research before making very false claims (the above claims are rough estimates).

"The act is... as a student of this High School I can personally tell you that this program did one thing... it created a social elite at the school under which many students were put down, belittled, and treated as they did not have a future."

The whole point of the academy was to get kids who "did not have a future" and give them a future. Are you sure you are talking about Lawndale High in Lawndale, CA and not a different one? The teachers in the academy spent countless hours-tutoring, grade checks, the "talks"-trying to push and motivate these students to succeed.

"For those who were chosen to by the teachers, they were given special treatments beyond belief, often including things such as private tutors and special advantages such as a special college coach which the school provided for the top 4 students in the school. "

The top four students in the school? I was ranked number 3 or 4 (I don't remember) in my class and number 1 in MSA. I can definitely tell you I had no special treatment. If anything, they were harder on me because I began slacking off and they didn't want me to fail. Other students can attest to this fact, students that weren't ranked in the top portion of the class. I had no private tutoring, no special coaching, or any of the above mentioned privileges. They had no time for that; they had to fight the district the entire time.

Please ensure that before you defame the academy and its staff you do adequate research.

And Maldonaldo, the facts are obviously not false or incomplete. You may believe them to be false because you're new to the school, haven't experienced the real MSA, and because you know what you know about MSA because of what the district told you about it. Also, everything he said about you was in quotes. Alongside that, students were quoted in the article. Don't tell me you're going to be like the rest of the district and refuse to give credit to the students to thinking on their own...

The MSA did a lot for me and my peers. We grew up to be people who can read the law and act without the aid of teachers. We grew up to be adults creating change in the real world. We grew up to understand the bureaucracy in place and what is needed to change it to benefit all students. Only time will tell what happens to this academy. If it continues to fail and does not offer students what they were promised when they signed the letter to join the academy, it should either cease to exist or the name should change; the image of the successful academy shouldn't be destroyed because of today's efforts.

On a side note, Congratulations to the Class of 2011! Create the change in the world you want to see. Use what you learned and make everyone proud!

wow i never knew this about my teacher Ms. Sherman. I always knew something bugged her about switching to Hawthorne but never found out.

A great program, but the question is what about students that don't get into this program? It's a selective program on a public school campus so it should be open to any and everyone..was that the case? If that was not the case, then probably only the most proactive parents and highly motivated students took the time to apply to be a part of this program...Anybody can make a program a success when you have a group of students that are willing and wanting to be a part of it.

Soooooooooooooooo

The question I have is what happened to/with funding in the rest of the school during this time. Funding is extremely tight these days, and for one group of children to get this many field trips and 50 laps tops seems over the top and out of balance.

Jonathan Kozel in Savage Inequalities said to be wary of any school that had an extra special program and to follow the money and the attention. If the money came from the classroom teacher; that teacher had allowed the unacceptable to happen. The system was not reflecting reality. That teacher was giving the families a false sense of the order the system was. The principal had a bright bright room with carpets and books and good order to bring the guests and the superintendent too. These teachers did do a wonderful thing for their schools and they gave in a selfless way. But the system is out of balance.

Notice in most schools-- The parents that are the squeaky wheels-- their children get placed with the extra special settings. Hence less complaining.

If the LA Weekly wants to finish the story they need to explore the reality for the teachers outside of the Academies in Lawndale. Do they have adequate funds? Do they have laptops and field trips and lab materials. Do they have college tours? These are good experiences for all children..... but honestly the system is not funded in a way to make this reality sustainable.

The ACLU re-verified in December (Burbank Schools) the fact that schools can not charge for items that are part of the required curriculum. The schools have been stripped to the contrapositive-- the required curriculum is what CAN and MUST be provided. Anything else is not school-- it is extra curricular.

So the question for Lawndale is whether they have provided for the required curriculum for these students this year. And whether they have provided the required curricula for the rest of the school.

Sometimes, when i think about it, i get angry. I lost my MSA mothers and my old program is now forever gone. Its my senior year and its not what it was suppose to be. But you know, MSA is not dead. So many of us still here are trying so hard to keep it up and help our new Coordinator how the program usually runs. I think despite our losses, we still prevailed. We had lost vision for awhile, but we did not lose EVERYTHING. We still have Ms. Mai and Mr. Fuchs, and now have other teachers that are willing to help. Maldonado, sure we weren't his fans and many of us still aren't. As for me, I respect him for taken up the academy without the help of the former coordinators. Yeah, its not the same. But the teachers aren't the whole academy, WE are the academy. WE fought the district. WE walked out. WE made sure our voices were heard. and right now, WE are the MSA and always will be the MSA. We miss our teachers sure, but we are willing to honor them in a fashion to keep this academy running and make them proud. And even without the teachers, we still got into four year institutions. I got accepted to UC Santa Cruz thanks to our new Senior Seminar Teacher, Ms. Nguyen. Most of us got into UC and Ivy League Schools. Thank You Sherman, Ichiroku, and Merritt, for teaching us what our vision should be. Remember, WE STUDENTS ARE THE MSA FOREVER!

I know what hard work the teachers have put into the education of their students and its just a shame that the internal politics turned these dedicated teachers and program into casualties. Something has to be done to reform the arcane and inefficient way our schools are run and our teachers judged.

The protests/walkout at the end of last year (http://www.allbusiness.com/edu... are a testament to this. Through the plethora of college lessons, talks about the environment, stress about completing grade checks, anger about having to miss lunch to go to talks that benefited us in the end, and most importantly, harsh love, we reacted in a way not expected: we lawfully walked out of class. There were no injuries. There was no site damage. There were no threats to administrators (on behalf of the students at least. District personnel on the otherhand...). We wanted to show how important the teachers were to us. We wanted to show everyone that we were a school of students who cares deeply about their education. These protests lasted all week long and extended to the following week when they decided to put Merritt on administrative leave. What ended up happening? SHE WAS BROUGHT BACK THE FOLLOWING WEEK. What does this show you? It shows that the district is vindictive. They do not care about the well being of the students. We fought so many times to change the system and they simply shot us down. Comments made by members indicated they had no expectations of anything positive coming from us.

The protests/walkout at the end of last year (http://www.allbusiness.com/edu... are a testament to this. Through the plethora of college lessons, talks about the environment, stress about completing grade checks, anger about having to miss lunch to go to talks that benefited us in the end, and most importantly, harsh love, we reacted in a way not expected: we lawfully walked out of class. There were no injuries. There was no site damage. There were no threats to administrators (on behalf of the students at least. District personnel on the otherhand...). We wanted to show how important the teachers were to us. We wanted to show everyone that we were a school of students who cares deeply about their education. These protests lasted all week long and extended to the following week when they decided to put Merritt on administrative leave. What ended up happening? SHE WAS BROUGHT BACK THE FOLLOWING WEEK. What does this show you? It shows that the district is vindictive. They do not care about the well being of the students. We fought so many times to change the system and they simply shot us down. Comments made by members indicated they had no expectations of anything positive coming from us.

To the member of the Class of '09, sorry that Sherman's harsh love was detrimental to your well being. You stated that the facts in the article are false. Let's clarify:

I don't know the word limit, so I'm submitting my comment in several parts:

I am where I am today because of MSA. I definitely would have never applied to schools outside of California had it not been for the Marine Science Academy. Through my four years there, I grew up to be the person I am today, a person devoted to fixing the system currently in place. I spent four years trying to create change on campus and I feel that I did so, with the help of my peers, during my senior year. We knew something had to be done and we acted. Through Sherman, Merritt, and Ichiroku, I learned so much more than I thought I was going to learn. This academy wasn't just a facade put on by the district to "teach" students about environmental policy. Alongside the other MSA staff-the Mais, Fuchs, Dutton, and the other former MSAers-they devised an academy that taught us about the importance about environmental policy WHILE learning strategies for getting into college. Through Ichiroku's senior seminar, we were FORCED to apply to college, FORCED to apply for scholarships. She never let us slack off. Because of this, many of us are currently at places we didn't foresee ever attending.

These admin folks are always screaming that they're doing things for the kids, I guess disrupting stable surroundings is a part of that.

I am where I am today because of MSA. I definitely would have never applied to schools outside of California had it not been for the Marine Science Academy. Through my four years there, I grew up to be the person I am today, a person devoted to fixing the system currently in place. I spent four years trying to create change on campus and I feel that I did so, with the help of my peers, during my senior year. We knew something had to be done and we acted. Through Sherman, Merritt, and Ichiroku, I learned so much more than I thought I was going to learn. This academy wasn't just a facade put on by the district to "teach" students about environmental policy. Alongside the other MSA staff-the Mais, Fuchs, Dutton, and the other former MSAers-they devised an academy that taught us about the importance about environmental policy WHILE learning strategies for getting into college. Through Ichiroku's senior seminar, we were FORCED to apply to college, FORCED to apply for scholarships. She never let us slack off. Because of this, many of us are currently at places we didn't foresee ever attending.

The protests/walkout at the end of last year (http://www.allbusiness.com/edu... are a testament to this. Through the plethora of college lessons, talks about the environment, stress about completing grade checks, anger about having to miss lunch to go to talks that benefited us in the end, and most importantly, harsh love, we reacted in a way not expected: we lawfully walked out of class. There were no injuries. There was no site damage. There were no threats to administrators (on behalf of the students at least. District personnel on the otherhand...). We wanted to show how important the teachers were to us. We wanted to show everyone that we were a school of students who cares deeply about their education. These protests lasted all week long and extended to the following week when they decided to put Merritt on administrative leave. What ended up happening? SHE WAS BROUGHT BACK THE FOLLOWING WEEK. What does this show you? It shows that the district is vindictive. They do not care about the well being of the students. We fought so many times to change the system and they simply shot us down. Comments made by members indicated they had no expectations of anything positive coming from us.

To the member of the Class of '09, sorry that Sherman's harsh love was detrimental to your well being. You stated that the facts in the article are false. Let's clarify:

"Erik Tamayo who went to MIT was kicked out of the Marine Science Academy and told that he was not going to succeed in life" I'm sure no one in the academy would've told someone like Erik Tamayo that he wasn't going to succeed. He was obviously a brilliant student who went through things in high school that should not be published online without his consent. Be courteous.

"Sherman... or the Sherman-ator was someone who belittled her students into a submission and shouldnt be praised for the way in which she frequently made her students cry by making them feel inferior. "

Ask most students today and they'll agree that her harsh love pushed them to continue with their education, pushed them to not give up, pushed them to graduate (sometimes the first in their families). Pain isn't always a negative thing; it helps us work harder and accomplish things we never thought we could accomplish. Trust me, I had many of those talks with Sherman and I am very glad that I did.

"Also the fact about 90% of their 125 being accepted to 4 year universities is false... as, in total, there were barely ever 125 students that walked the stage in 2009. "

Lawndale had a graduation rate of 89.8% in 2008. If the class of 2009 had a class size of, let's say, 250 (class of 2010 had a class size of about 290), then that amounts to about 225 graduating seniors. Make sure you do some research before making very false claims (the above claims are rough estimates).

"The act is... as a student of this High School I can personally tell you that this program did one thing... it created a social elite at the school under which many students were put down, belittled, and treated as they did not have a future."

The whole point of the academy was to get kids who "did not have a future" and give them a future. Are you sure you are talking about Lawndale High in Lawndale, CA and not a different one? The teachers in the academy spent countless hours-tutoring, grade checks, the "talks"-trying to push and motivate these students to succeed.

"For those who were chosen to by the teachers, they were given special treatments beyond belief, often including things such as private tutors and special advantages such as a special college coach which the school provided for the top 4 students in the school. "

The top four students in the school? I was ranked number 3 or 4 (I don't remember) in my class and number 1 in MSA. I can definitely tell you I had no special treatment. If anything, they were harder on me because I began slacking off and they didn't want me to fail. Other students can attest to this fact, students that weren't ranked in the top portion of the class. I had no private tutoring, no special coaching, or any of the above mentioned privileges. They had no time for that; they had to fight the district the entire time.

Please ensure that before you defame the academy and its staff you do adequate research.

And Maldonaldo, the facts are obviously not false or incomplete. You may believe them to be false because you're new to the school, haven't experienced the real MSA, and because you know what you know about MSA because of what the district told you about it. Also, everything he said about you was in quotes. Alongside that, students were quoted in the article. Don't tell me you're going to be like the rest of the district and refuse to give credit to the students to thinking on their own...

The MSA did a lot for me and my peers. We grew up to be people who can read the law and act without the aid of teachers. We grew up to be adults creating change in the real world. We grew up to understand the bureaucracy in place and what is needed to change it to benefit all students. Only time will tell what happens to this academy. If it continues to fail and does not offer students what they were promised when they signed the letter to join the academy, it should either cease to exist or the name should change; the image of the successful academy shouldn't be destroyed because of today's efforts.

On a side note, Congratulations to the Class of 2011! Create the change in the world you want to see. Use what you learned and make everyone proud!

This article provides a detailed and balanced view of why public education is so poor in this country. We have a system controlled by bureaucrats who place their own needs above those of the students. MSA was a success because the program placed power in the hands of teachers and students...in the end, the success was too threatening for the bureaucrats, so they shut it down.Unfortunately, stories like this are common across the country. For a similar disheartening tale, check out the radio piece by Ira Glass on one Chicago school: http://www.thisamericanlife.or...We could make the exact same piece about the demise of the MSA.

go (former) msa! this new msa is useless!

I am where I am today because of MSA. I definitely would have never applied to schools outside of California had it not been for the Marine Science Academy. Through my four years there, I grew up to be the person I am today, a person devoted to fixing the system currently in place. I spent four years trying to create change on campus and I feel that I did so, with the help of my peers, during my senior year. We knew something had to be done and we acted. Through Sherman, Merritt, and Ichiroku, I learned so much more than I thought I was going to learn. This academy wasn't just a facade put on by the district to "teach" students about environmental policy. Alongside the other MSA staff-the Mais, Fuchs, Dutton, and the other former MSAers-they devised an academy that taught us about the importance about environmental policy WHILE learning strategies for getting into college. Through Ichiroku's senior seminar, we were FORCED to apply to college, FORCED to apply for scholarships. She never let us slack off. Because of this, many of us are currently at places we didn't foresee ever attending.

The protests/walkout at the end of last year (http://www.allbusiness.com/edu... are a testament to this. Through the plethora of college lessons, talks about the environment, stress about completing grade checks, anger about having to miss lunch to go to talks that benefited us in the end, and most importantly, harsh love, we reacted in a way not expected: we lawfully walked out of class. There were no injuries. There was no site damage. There were no threats to administrators (on behalf of the students at least. District personnel on the otherhand...). We wanted to show how important the teachers were to us. We wanted to show everyone that we were a school of students who cares deeply about their education. These protests lasted all week long and extended to the following week when they decided to put Merritt on administrative leave. What ended up happening? SHE WAS BROUGHT BACK THE FOLLOWING WEEK. What does this show you? It shows that the district is vindictive. They do not care about the well being of the students. We fought so many times to change the system and they simply shot us down. Comments made by members indicated they had no expectations of anything positive coming from us.

To the member of the Class of '09, sorry that Sherman's harsh love was detrimental to your well being. You stated that the facts in the article are false. Let's clarify:

"Erik Tamayo who went to MIT was kicked out of the Marine Science Academy and told that he was not going to succeed in life" I'm sure no one in the academy would've told someone like Erik Tamayo that he wasn't going to succeed. He was obviously a brilliant student who went through things in high school that should not be published online without his consent. Be courteous.

"Sherman... or the Sherman-ator was someone who belittled her students into a submission and shouldnt be praised for the way in which she frequently made her students cry by making them feel inferior. "

Ask most students today and they'll agree that her harsh love pushed them to continue with their education, pushed them to not give up, pushed them to graduate (sometimes the first in their families). Pain isn't always a negative thing; it helps us work harder and accomplish things we never thought we could accomplish. Trust me, I had many of those talks with Sherman and I am very glad that I did.

"Also the fact about 90% of their 125 being accepted to 4 year universities is false... as, in total, there were barely ever 125 students that walked the stage in 2009. "

Lawndale had a graduation rate of 89.8% in 2008. If the class of 2009 had a class size of, let's say, 250 (class of 2010 had a class size of about 290), then that amounts to about 225 graduating seniors. Make sure you do some research before making very false claims (the above claims are rough estimates).

"The act is... as a student of this High School I can personally tell you that this program did one thing... it created a social elite at the school under which many students were put down, belittled, and treated as they did not have a future."

The whole point of the academy was to get kids who "did not have a future" and give them a future. Are you sure you are talking about Lawndale High in Lawndale, CA and not a different one? The teachers in the academy spent countless hours-tutoring, grade checks, the "talks"-trying to push and motivate these students to succeed.

"For those who were chosen to by the teachers, they were given special treatments beyond belief, often including things such as private tutors and special advantages such as a special college coach which the school provided for the top 4 students in the school. "

The top four students in the school? I was ranked number 3 or 4 (I don't remember) in my class and number 1 in MSA. I can definitely tell you I had no special treatment. If anything, they were harder on me because I began slacking off and they didn't want me to fail. Other students can attest to this fact, students that weren't ranked in the top portion of the class. I had no private tutoring, no special coaching, or any of the above mentioned privileges. They had no time for that; they had to fight the district the entire time.

Please ensure that before you defame the academy and its staff you do adequate research.

And Maldonaldo, the facts are obviously not false or incomplete. You may believe them to be false because you're new to the school, haven't experienced the real MSA, and because you know what you know about MSA because of what the district told you about it. Also, everything he said about you was in quotes. Alongside that, students were quoted in the article. Don't tell me you're going to be like the rest of the district and refuse to give credit to the students to thinking on their own...

The MSA did a lot for me and my peers. We grew up to be people who can read the law and act without the aid of teachers. We grew up to be adults creating change in the real world. We grew up to understand the bureaucracy in place and what is needed to change it to benefit all students. Only time will tell what happens to this academy. If it continues to fail and does not offer students what they were promised when they signed the letter to join the academy, it should either cease to exist or the name should change; the image of the successful academy shouldn't be destroyed because of today's efforts.

On a side note, Congratulations to the Class of 2011! Create the change in the world you want to see. Use what you learned and make everyone proud!

Sherman..i miss, we miss you. You helped me a lot, you made me think of college more seriously and also life overall. I learned a lot of different things in your class that i wouldn't have learned if i was not in your class or in MSA, u helped me learn that i can pretty much do whatever i want if i actually try. I can honestly say that i learned more in one semester of your class than in all my years at Lawndale High. So i would like to thank you specifically, thank you!

Its FUKED UP tht all this actually happened..its BULLSHIT...simple as tht

As a current student at Lawndale & a member of the original MSA & the sliver of what it is now, I can say from firsthand experience that the statements in this article are accurate. The district are a bunch of dictators that drive around in fancy cars while we don't all have books for class. Sherman, Ichiroku, & Merritt were dedicated, kind, genuine, noble educators. Although they were a bit stubborn & strict at times everything they did was for the better & obviously their methods worked! Yes, the teachers we have now are trying, but MSA is not what it used to be & we students are suffering because of it.

Interesting that this comes out the same week as the article on "the relationship between respect and test scores".

www.edweek.org/ew/articles/201...

Everyone at the school and in the community has to believe that the task at hand, learning and maturing, is possible and the desired goal. As long as a school climate is marred by teachers worrying about what they will be doing next year-- they will hesitate to go "all out" to develop programs and take the actions necessary to get at risk kids through school and into college.

Next year the rough ride for Lawndale continues with the decision by the school board to let all children in the district choose their high school campus. Lawndale will have a freshman class of more than 1000. This decision will effect all schools in the district and will cause more involuntary teacher transfers. What is the motivation? Pleasing parents? Preserving ADA funds? Saving remodeling costs at Leuzinger and Hawthorne? School Choice? Keeping the staff guessing?

Budget is a huge motivator of many of the decisions faced by schools and school boards these days. Did other programs in this school face similar cuts to funding? Do the kids know of these cuts? Did other classes have these travel opportunities?

Jonathan Kozel in Savage Inequalities wrote an entire chapter about how the bright spots in schools allow those-in-charge let the rest of the system go down the drain, because they then have a successful program to invite the observers in to see. He pointed the finger at teachers who drain their bank accounts making up for schools that have inadequate budgets for instructional materials, but in the recent history magnet schools, academic debate teams, and academies have become the show pieces that have allowed neglect to escalate to the breaking point.

No one can roll back the clock two years to change this bit of history. Mr. Maldonado deserves to be supported and to shape the program into the success it can be.

This scenario is indicative of the uphill climb quality educators in too many school Districts face. These children's lives have been changed for the better.Yanking that program, opportunity for self-improvement, and a college education is enough to shatter a child. Administrators, stop with the power plays and work to serve these children!

I have personally worked with two of the teachers mentioned in this article. These teachers are some of the most caring, dedicated, and passionate educators I know. It is absolutely disgusting how they were treated by their district and even more unfortunate the way the students have had to pay for this complete screw-up by the school district. This program was truly exceptional; Sherman and Ichiroku (and many other teachers) sacrificed a tremendous amount of their time to the academic enrichment of their students. As a fellow teacher myself I am disgusted by the lack of vision and professionalism displayed by those who lead our nations schools.

Funny, how the article makes a point of mentioning the public humiliation of teachers by our school district, then turns around to publicly berate and humiliate me with incomplete facts and misinformation (at least the author was eloquent enough to do it in a backhanded way).

I find it very troubling that LA Weekly can go as far as publishing my name and portions of my email conversations without so much as a phone call, text or email (nevermind, my consent).

As much as I wanted to resist commentary on this article, I feel the need to simply say that this article is clearly presented in the interest of inciting bad feelings and negativity, and does absolutely nothing to serve the students in question. Mr. Sakata is clearly looking toward future at Fox News with his fair and balanced reporting.

Osvaldo MaldonadoScience Teacher/CoordinatorMarine Science AcademyLawndale High School