Sid Thompson

It was with enthusiasm that I read your editorial "The Best Might Already Be in the Job" (April 1) regarding Sid Thompson, interim superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District. I can only wish that your endorsement for Thompson as permanent superintendent had been stronger. Thompson, an LAUSD veteran, has ably administered the bureaucracy for the past eight months during times of crises that are unparalleled. What better demonstration of qualifications does the board need in selecting a superintendent than Thompson, who has proven himself to be so tenacious under such demanding circumstances?

In the latest and most extensive review of the Los Angeles Unified School District's troubled computer division, a management audit obtained Friday by The Times strongly condemns a culture of fear and finger-pointing that it says has crippled the entire district. So mismanaged is the system that when auditors asked for a list of major technology projects and the administrators responsible for them, they learned that no such list existed.

Sid Thompson will retire in June next year as superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second-largest. His challenges have been legion and intractable: a political school board, a powerful teachers union, soaring enrollment, increasingly poor students, a massive bilingual population and pervasive overcrowding. Problems like these complicate the primary mission of educating children. Originally a math teacher, Thompson understands the numbers.

As his parting gesture to the Los Angeles Unified School District, retiring Supt. Sid Thompson will announce at a special school board meeting today the formation of intervention teams to target struggling campuses. The $1.5-million plan, subject to school board approval, calls for up to 20 teachers and 20 administrators to be trained how to dig into schools that are failing in areas ranging from student test scores to staff turnover.

The Los Angeles Board of Education is preparing to appoint Supt. Sid Thompson its permanent chief, avoiding a potentially divisive and difficult national search for a leader during a period of unprecedented crises, sources said Friday. The board intends early next week to work out final details of what is expected to be a two-year contract for Thompson to take the helm of the nation's second-largest school district. He is the district's first African-American superintendent.

Just one year after launching a sweeping five-year plan to improve student achievement, Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. Sid Thompson abruptly announced Monday that he will resign at the end of his current contract, which expires in June 1997. However, Thompson said--and members of the school board and his senior staff confirmed--that he had been contemplating resigning from the $162,900-a-year job for some time as both his age and the frustrations of the job increased.

Under pressure to change Los Angeles school district personnel policies, Supt. Sid Thompson will ask the Board of Education today to allow some schools--including Sun Valley Middle School--to hire principals regardless of whether they have passed the required exam.

The Los Angeles Board of Education is preparing to appoint Supt. Sid Thompson its permanent chief, avoiding a potentially divisive and difficult national search for a leader during a period of unprecedented crises, sources said Friday. The board intends early next week to work out final details of what is expected to be a two-year contract for Thompson to take the helm of the nation's second-largest school district. He is the district's first African-American superintendent.

In an abrupt shift toward conciliation after years of opposition, Los Angeles city schools chief Sid Thompson on Wednesday told critics of the system he will not launch a fight against the campaign to dismantle the district. Instead, Thompson pledged to help breakup supporters so long as they can prove that their plans to carve up the nation's second-largest school system would result in improved student achievement. "I am not opposed philosophically to a different order for this school system.

Los Angeles School Supt. Sid Thompson directed school police officials Thursday to immediately cancel nightly patrols outside his Bel-Air home, saying he was unaware he was getting special protection at the same time that school police have complained of having too few officers to cope with a $16-million wave of campus burglaries and vandalism. Thompson defended the 3-year-old practice Wednesday in a memo to school board members, saying he and his family have received hate mail and threats.

Los Angeles School Supt. Sid Thompson directed school police officials Thursday to immediately cancel nightly patrols outside his Bel-Air home, saying he was unaware he was getting special protection at the same time that school police have complained of having too few officers to cope with a $16-million wave of campus burglaries and vandalism. Thompson defended the 3-year-old practice Wednesday in a memo to school board members, saying he and his family have received hate mail and threats.

Behind closed doors Thursday, Los Angeles schools Supt. Sid Thompson proposed $42,000 in raises for many high-ranking administrators, touching off a fury among representatives of other employee groups. The proposal made to the Board of Education includes promotions, replacements for several retirees and the creation of several positions.

The Los Angeles Unified School District Police force, which administrators say is too short of officers to protect schools from widespread burglaries and vandalism, has assigned patrol units for the past three years to keep watch over the Bel-Air home of school Supt. Sid Thompson. Thompson told school board members Wednesday that the practice was appropriate because of "hate mail and threats against my person and family."

The Los Angeles Unified School District police force, which administrators say is so short of officers that it cannot protect schools from widespread burglaries and vandalism, has assigned patrol units for the past three years to keep watch over the Bel-Air home of school Supt. Sid Thompson. Thompson told school board members Wednesday that the practice was appropriate because of "hate mail and threats against my person and family."

Re "Students Deserve the Best Leader," editorial, April 22: Thank you for your voice of sanity regarding students deserving better in the search for a new superintendent of Los Angeles schools. Supt. Sid Thompson did the honorable and responsible thing by letting his intentions be known early, so the board would have plenty of time to also do the right thing. However, the board has been irresponsible to its constituents by scurrying about to quickly appoint someone to the position (what's the rush?

There is a move by several members of the Los Angeles school board to vote today on a replacement for Supt. Sid Thompson, who announced less than a week ago that he plans to retire next year. It's far too early to make such a decision. The Los Angeles Unified School District needs the best possible candidate. Its nearly 650,000 students and their parents deserve a measured, thoughtful search for Thompson's successor. The top job is not a prize to be handed out without a national search.

Sidney A. Thompson, the former naval officer and popular math teacher who captains the nation's second-largest school system, often alludes to seafaring dangers when he talks about the Los Angeles Unified School District. "I did not take command of the Titanic," he said at his first school board meeting as superintendent 20 months ago. To a group of principals: "All I ask is don't torpedo us while we are trying not to hit" an iceberg. After Thompson took command Nov.

Sid Thompson will retire in June next year as superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second-largest. His challenges have been legion and intractable: a political school board, a powerful teachers union, soaring enrollment, increasingly poor students, a massive bilingual population and pervasive overcrowding. Problems like these complicate the primary mission of educating children. Originally a math teacher, Thompson understands the numbers.

Just one year after launching a sweeping five-year plan to improve student achievement, Los Angeles Unified School District Supt. Sid Thompson abruptly announced Monday that he will resign at the end of his current contract, which expires in June 1997. However, Thompson said--and members of the school board and his senior staff confirmed--that he had been contemplating resigning from the $162,900-a-year job for some time as both his age and the frustrations of the job increased.