Re "A Beating for Good Schools," editorial, Dec. 8: I do not have the time or energy at this moment to write a comment merited by your editorial. I retired from the Los Angeles Unified School District after almost 40 years of service and I am now in my sixth year as a two-day-a-week volunteer bilingual school psychologist in an elementary school in East L.A. (not to mention the time I spend keeping up with the history of -- and the more recent research in -- child development and attending professional seminars).
A large percentage of the student body in the LAUSD is poor and does not speak English as a first language. A large percentage of the immigrants from Spanish-speaking countries were not educated in their home countries and know little about the responsibilities of parenthood. If President Bush wants to really see to it that "no child [is] left behind," he will start by urging Congress to authorize (with money) better training of teachers and better compensation for them -- and by teaching parents how to truly be parents in the 21st century.
