Manual Arts Senior High

Im Currently a Sophomore at Manual Arts,
my teachers are very dedicated, staff works real hard, the main problem that i see is the lack of Discipline,Respect,Pride, and Honor in the students. I've seen many things happen in my 2 years at Manual Arts. I dont blame the Administration for any Problems. I dont blame the Teachers/staff
for the problems. I blame the students for not being responsible.

I went to MA and fell short 31 units in 1986--I dropped out after I realized I was going to be 20 in November 1987--I was given electronics as a major and failed that class 6 times having had that class for 3rd & 4th period for 3 consecutive semesters. I eventually graduated from USC in 1994. I have pulled my children out of public school and homeschool them. I wish most of my neighbors could do this but they just can not. But what they can do is get involved with their children in every aspect. Parents need to understand that the experts are not the schools or the teachers but the parents. The situation with public education in the Los Angeles inner city results from the stubborness of the LAUSD to stick to the status quo, from having teachers who have a passion to teach lose the enthusiasm and creativity because of the stubborness, and most importantly, the lack of parent involvement. Most parents leave it to others to educate, guide, and raise their children. Schools should be a place full of resources that parents could use to raise and educate their childre rather than a childcare center. It takes sacrifice on our part or else it will continue to be a desperate cycle of defeat.

As an ex-student myself, attending around 3 years ago, i think i can comment pretty accurately on the situation that the school is currently in.

I feel that the school's policies, not the teachers, unnecessarily complicate the situation. For example, if one arrives a few minutes late to school, one can spend up to an hour waiting in the "Tardy Line" to receive a detention slip.

The language barrier provides a big problem for the school as well. according to the statistical data on this page, almost 45% of the students in the school are learning English as their second language. Because of that, some of the students can't even understand the material that they're trying to learn.

Another thing is that a lot of students come from homes where there are great financial difficulties and some people feel that getting a job is more important than staying in school(Moot point i guess.)

Going to college is a big issue for a lot of the illegal aliens attending the school because, generally, they do not qualify for Financial Aid.

Lastly, and one of the biggest issues, the lack of funding creates a big problem for the teachers and the students. A majority of the textbooks are full of profanities/obscenities; and teachers don't have sufficient materials to teach their children either.

things need to change with this school before more students are sent into a world with their limited educations and, hence, limited options; especially in selection jobs.

parent,
the issue is family. take a nongraduate single parent. if that parent doesnot understand the value of two hours a day with there child on education rather than two hours a day watching television it's a losing cause. i don't care the amount of money we allocate for education it still goes to the family focus. the teachers can do only so much. pressure must be applied to the parents. each child must read so many books per month, complete a level of math per month. we do a good job of collecting child support why not use the same government powers for parents with children in school.