Romer: Smaller Schools Are Better For Students

By Lisa M. Sodders
Staff Writer

Friday, June 06, 2003

NORTHRIDGE -- California's secondary schools are too large and should be made smaller and more inviting to students, a group of education and business leaders said Friday during an education summit at California State University, Northridge.

Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Roy Romer and state schools chief Jack O'Connell were among 210 participants at the Education Leadership Summit 2003, which was sponsored by the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley.

While participants agreed that smaller schools hold many potential benefits for students -- especially those at risk of dropping out of school -- they disagreed on the practical aspects of the reform, known as "small learning communities."

"All smallness is not good," said Romer, who wants to downsize all middle and high schools in the LAUSD. "You can have a bad small school as well as a good small school. All local is not good."

Currently, 75 percent of California's high schools have at least 1,000 students. Supporters of small learning communities argue they promote closer relationships among students and teachers and offer more opportunities to succeed in the classroom.

Under Romer's small schools plan, a 3,000-student high school would be divided into 600-student schools, each overseen by an assistant principal.

Students in these schools-within-schools would have the same core group of teachers, but would share facilities such as libraries and athletic fields.

Romer has estimated that retrofitting existing schools to meet this concept could cost as much as $4 million per campus. The district would also have to consider other factors, such as making sure teachers have access to their colleagues outside the classroom.

O'Connell said that while California public education is on the right track with rising student test scores, more needs to be done.

O'Connell supports reducing class sizes at the high school level, in core subjects at the middle schools and in grades 4-6 in the elementary schools.

State Sen. Richard Alarcon, D-Van Nuys, told the audience that all students should be encouraged to aim for college or an equally productive future after high school.

"Support of education is exactly what is going to propel our future in terms of productivity and economic well-being," Alarcon said. "We need to challenge our students, tell them they can achieve great things."

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Lisa M. Sodders can be reached at (818) 713-3663 and lisa.sodders@dailynews.com.