Larry Wilson: School politics often befuddles

How Larry Wilson. An entire column about befuddlement that in no way answers the questions people are confused about. Perhaps if journalists like Mr. Wilson did their job and actually explained some of the issues?
Or might that be asking too much of the poor fellow ..

I am definitely befuddled by this column. It is hard to read and piece together any theme and lacks the necessary facts to point to what is wrong with school politics. PUSD has closed schools before the recent economy woes. Why is the number of Altadena and Pasadena residents choosing private schools so high? There are significant problems with PUSD and only focusing on the budget woes won't solve the problems. This is really a shame that the self-serving bureaucratic PUSD can't provide the excellent education that other school districts seem to manage.

PUSD closed 4 schools precisely for economic reasons, when 1100 families, 90% from NW Pasadena, moved to the Inland Empire and the High Desert for cheaper housing in 2004-2005. The schools were closed to keep the PUSD solvent, the same reason they would be closed in the next couple years. Actually Confused's comment is self-serving in that the person doesn't say what districts are being referred to. Districts without significant numbers of poor students, like Arcadia, La Canada, South Pasadena and San Marino? As the recently retired San Marino superintendent said, it's not rocket science for those students given their parental support. And the reason for the high private school attendance is both historical, having been about 20% before court-ordered busing, and then busing in the '70's raised it to its current level of about 30-33% where it has been since then. It hasn't budged no matter what the test scores have been, which by the way have gone up in the PUSD every year, as they have in every district in the state. PUSD's Hamilton Elementary was just named a California Distinguished School, a rare award. McKinley beat out Poly to win the Bravo Award a couple years ago. Don Benito and Sierra Madre are highly sought after PUSD schools, as is Marshall. And of course they all are more diverse than the private schools. Confused is indeed confused.

To Confused: Please take a look at where PUSD's class of 2009 will be attending college.
Marshall’s 2009 graduates have been admitted by the following list of
colleges and universities: UCLA, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, UC Irvine,
UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly
San Luis Obispo, Cal State Northridge, Cal State Los Angeles, Cal State
Dominguez Hills, Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State
East Bay, Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Monterey Bay, San Francisco
State, San Diego State, Humboldt State, Sonoma State, Harvey Mudd
College, Pomona College, Pepperdine University, Occidental College,
Azusa Pacific University, Santa Clara University, University of San
Francisco, Dominican University, Notre Dame de Namur University, Art
Center College of Design, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
Boston College, Grinnell College, University of Nevada-Las Vegas,
University of Nevada-Reno, Arizona State University, Grand Canyon
University Eastern New Mexico University-Roswell, School of Visual
Arts-New York.
This year’s graduates of Blair IB School have been accepted to the
following colleges and universities: Academy of Art University – San
Francisco, Bethune-Cookman University, Benedict College, Bennett College
for Women, California State University-Bakersfield, California State
University-East Bay, California State University-Humboldt, California
State University–Los Angeles, California State University-Monterey,
California State University–Northridge, California State
University–San Marcos, Chaminade University, Ferris State
University, Glendale Community College, Grand Canyon University, Hampton
University, Heidelberg University, Holy Names University, Langston
University, LeMoyne College, Mercy College, Miles College, Morehouse
College, New York University, Northern Arizona University, Occidental
College, Pasadena City College, Paine College, St. John’s University,
Stillman College, UC-Berkley, UC-Davis, UC-Irvine, UC-Los Angeles,
UC-Santa Barbara, UC-Riverside, UC-Santa Cruz, UC-San Diego, University
of Nevada--Reno, University of North Dakota, University of Southern
California, Smith College, Texas College, Virginia Union University,
Weber State University, Wiley College.

To Confused: continued

Muir’s Class of 2009 received more than $1 million in scholarships
this year. Two graduates have won the Gates-Millennium scholarship and
another student has been named a National Merit scholar.

Muir graduates have been accepted at the following colleges: Art
Center, Art Institute, Arizona State University, Bethune-Cookman,
Brigham Young University-Idaho, California State University-Channel
Islands, California State University-Pomona, California State
University-Los Angeles, California State University-Northridge,
California State University-Sacramento, California State University-San
Francisco, California State University-San Jose, California State
University-San Marcos, California State University-Sonoma, East L.A.
Community College, Glendale Community College, Hamline University,
Hampton University, Howard University, Ithaca College, LA Trade
Technical College, Langston University, Northwest College, Northwest
College, Otis College of Art and Design, Pasadena City College,
Stonybrook University, Tuskegee University, UC- Berkeley, UC-Davis,
UC-Merced, UC- Riverside, UC-Santa Barbara, UC-Irvine, UC-Los Angeles,
UC-Santa Barbara, University Of Idaho, University Of Kentucky,
University Of New Mexico, University Of San Francisco, University of
Virginia, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, University of Southern
California, UTI, Wiley College, Woodbury.

Pasadena High School graduates received $1.3 million in scholarships
to colleges, universities and trade schools. Graduates were accepted at
the following colleges and universities: Academy of Arts University,
Azusa Pacific University, Belmont University, Bethune-Cookman
University, California Institute of Technology, California Lutheran
University, California State Polytechnic University-Pomona,California
State University-Northridge, California State University-East Bay,
California State University-Fresno, California State
University-Fullerton, California State University-Humboldt, California
State University-Los Angeles, California State University-Dominguez
Hills, California State University-San Francisco, California State
University-San Jose, California State University-San Marcos, California
State University-Sonoma, Cerritos Community College, Chaffey Community
College, Citrus Community College, City College of San Francisco,
College of the Canyons, Colorado State University, Columbia College
Chicago, Columbia University, Fashion Institute of Design &
Merchandising, Glendale Community College, Hamline University, LA Trade
Technical College, Marist College, Marymount College, Mesa Community
College, Mount Sierra College, Mt. San Antonio Community College, New
Mexico State University-Las Cruces, Osaka University, Otis College of
Arts and Design, Pasadena City College, Prairie View A & M, Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, Riverside Community College, The Art Institute of
California, Tulane University, Universal Technical Institute, University
of California–Berkeley, University of California–Davis, University
of California–Irvine, University of California-Los Angeles, University
of California–Merced, University of California–Riverside, University
of California-San Diego, University of California-Santa Barbara,
University of California-Santa Cruz, University of Illinois, University
of Southern California, University of Southern Indiana, Upper Iowa
University, Ventura City College.