Sample Letter to the Board

NOTE:  Here is a sample letter you can use to write the School Board.

Click here for the name of your Board Member

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December 2008

 

Los Angeles Unified School District

BOARD OF EDUCATION

333 South Beaudry Avenue,

24th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90017

 

Dear President Garcia and Members of the Board,

 

In a recent letter to all LAUSD employees, Superintendent David L. Brewer addressed the imminent budget cuts and stated, “Nothing is off the table”. It is imperative that the LAUSD Board scrutinizes all questionable spending and ineffective programs including the JROTC program.

 

• Why does the District spend $2.6 million on JROTC programs that are shown to be ineffective according to the Districts’ own evaluation?

 

• Why are high school students continuing to be involuntarily placed into JROTC programs which is in violation of the California Education Code Section 51750 and LAUSD Policy Bulletin 2067?

 

• Why is JROTC considered a PE elective when it does not meet the California Education Code for physical education requirements?

 

• Why does the District spend more money on a JROTC class than an academic class?      

 

• Why do JROTC classes have an average of 12 students per class, compared to academic classes with 40 plus students?

 

As you can see, there are many concerns about the JROTC program. A  2004 LAUSD report about the JROTC program entitled Evaluation Of The Equity Of And Outcomes Associated With Military Science Participation by Jeffery A. White concluded that “In senior high schools, no meaningful differences among attendance, grade point averages, or AP course enrollment were observed; however, military science students had lower A-G enrollment, retention, and credit accumulation rates”.  Although this report was conducted in response to the concerns of the Human Rights Committee of UTLA, these conclusions were never shared with this committee or the public. 

 

Given that JROTC programs are costly yet ineffective and often problematic it is troubling that they are overrepresented in under-funded schools serving low-income African American and Latino youth.  Our youth need strong academic and college preparatory programs with lower class sizes, arts programs that are shown to enhance student achievement, functional school buildings and qualified teachers.

 

Based on these concerns, as students, parents, teachers and community members we urge the LAUSD Board to eliminate JROTC and re-allocate these monies for the expansion of necessary programs that are severely under-funded. Our students and communities can no longer afford the cost of JROTC.

 

Sincerely,