Los Angeles Schools

Marnesba Tillmon Tackett, a civil rights activist who worked to eliminate inequities in education and played a key role in the battle over desegregation in Los Angeles public schools, died Dec. 17 at her home in Los Angeles. She was 99. Tackett, who came to Los Angeles in 1952, was less than two months shy of her 100th birthday and died in her sleep of natural causes, said her granddaughter, Michelle Cole.

It is not every day that we have the opportunity to celebrate a colleague whose work for this newspaper stands the scrutiny of history. Journalism, by its nature, tends to focus on the immediate. Only a few of any generation leave a bold enough mark to be visible over generations. One such journalist was Ruben Salazar, whom we honor today as the United States Postal Service issues a stamp to commemorate his life and work. To many, Salazar is recalled largely for his death.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power will refund $160 million that it overcharged other government agencies for more than a decade, the state attorney general's office announced Monday.

More than 200 of the Los Angeles region's top civic and business officials -- some of them adversaries back home -- kicked off a two-day lobbying blitz in the nation's capital Tuesday to secure more federal money for transportation, education, anti-gang programs and other priorities.

State and local education officials, citing safety concerns and potential financial penalties for schools, urged students Sunday to shun this week's May Day immigration reform marches and stay in class. The Tuesday demonstrations include a downtown Los Angeles rally that local transportation and law enforcement officials anticipate could draw as many as 500,000 participants.

When Karen Kay Woods started teaching music in the Los Angeles Unified School District, it was as if she were Alice in Wonderland, falling down the rabbit hole. She was given 14 flutes; one worked. She had 56 students -- and 48 chairs. When she took her class on a field trip, she had to return hours early because the school buses hadn't been reserved for the day. Only unlike Alice, Woods didn't wind up in Wonderland, she wound up in the not-so-wonderful world of school district red tape.

This is the fifth in an occasional series of conversations with Southern California activists and intellectuals. The series and videotaped interviews with the subjects are collected at www.latimes.com/news/ opinion/lavisions/. -- Rare is the civic conversation in Los Angeles that does not involve Eli Broad. Whether the topic is the arts, education, politics or the fate of the city's largest newspaper, Broad invariably is at the table.

Re "Bill: No cell use by teen drivers," Aug. 28 I hope Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs the proposed bill prohibiting cellphone use by teenage drivers. I disagree with Arian Moreh, who admits that he has texted while driving. "As long as I'm being safe, it doesn't matter," he states. He is dangerously wrong. A distracted driver is as perilous as a drunk driver. I was a victim of a 17-year-old driver who was smoking marijuana. He rammed my car, spinning it into oncoming traffic.

A new campaign to lower the dropout rate in Los Angeles schools will rely heavily on popular Internet websites such as YouTube and MySpace, as well as radio spots aimed at vulnerable teens, school officials announced Monday. The Los Angeles Unified School District initiative also features a new website, www.MyFutureMyDecision.com. The site highlights alternative ways of earning a diploma and describes the district's many continuation schools and community college programs.

Los Angeles schools Supt. Roy Romer announced an array of measures Tuesday to keep students from dropping out of school, but said he didn't know where the district would find the money and teachers needed to carry out the plans. Romer's announcement called for a minimum of $21 million in new spending -- not a pie-in-the-sky figure in a district with a $7.1-billion annual budget, but money that would have to be diverted from other programs.