LA Times Article Analysis- "South L.A. high
school students stage sit-in to protest mismanagement" by Stephen Ceasar
(MLA Citation- 2 Additional Sources)
If you're a teacher at an LAUSD high school, you probably
have experienced the inconvenience of Misis, or My Integrated Student
Information System, which was newly implemented for the 2014~2014 school year.
For the students, the problem with Misis has been a huge complication,
misplacing students in wrong classes, muddling up student schedules, and
generating many errors in student enrollment. Students at Jefferson High School
have walked out in protest to the mismanagement of the school administration
and its neglect of the issues engendered by Misis. Stephen Ceasar of Los
Angeles Times summarizes the issues that led to the protest and explains the
effects of the affair on the students.
Beginning with the issues occurring at Jefferson High
School, Ceasar captures the reader's concern. He spotlights one of the main sources
of the conflict, the My Integrated Student Information System, which has caused
scheduling problems in LAUSD schools. Ceasar then follows up with the effect of
the Misis, as he says "Teachers have described over-enrolled classes,
missing or inaccurate rosters, students without schedules and an inability to take
attendance in the system." Ceasar then indicates another problem:
"Foote (principal) did not return
requests for comment. Students returned to class Monday afternoon." As
Ceasar pinpoints the issues, he allows the reader to understand the motives
behind the protest. Furthermore, his logical order of explanations establishes
a lucid introduction to his article.
Ceasar goes on to explain the consequences of the issue
and how they are affecting the students. He employs direct quotations from the
students to show the detrimental influences of the mismanagement at Jefferson.
He writes " 'It's the third week of school and we haven't learned anything,'
she said, 'what's the point of being here if I'm not going to learn? We're
tired of it.'" From these quotes the audience can learn the challenges the
students face and understand the extent to which the Misis issue is harming the
students, and empathize the students readily. Furthermore, Ceasar's quotations
appeal to the audiences' emotions as well. "'I had to fight for my
classmates', Lopez said, "We're not getting an education. It's not being
given to us… We are good people who want to go to college.'" Lopez's plea shows
to the reader the emotional struggle students have to face from the
mismanagement and describes their suffering, and appeals to our compassion.
Thus, Ceasar invites the audience to feel for the students' hardship and view
the issue in their perspectives. By doing so, he establishes a persuasive
argument that encourages the reader to support the students' concern.
As for the final outcomes of the protest, Ceasar does not
clarify. He mentions the district's intervention, in which the principal was
replaced. However, whether the displacement of the former principal has made
improvements is not addressed. Adding on, Ceasar does not provide perspectives
from the teachers, school officials, and the district. The entire article is
confined to the views of the students and does not give any insights as to what
the administrators have to say.
Despite some flaws, Ceasar artfully explains the
management crisis at Jefferson High School by summarizing the issues that led
to the walk-out and describing the outcomes of the conflict. As for the Misis crisis,
it still remains a huge problem for schools across the district. Many are still
struggling to correct their schedules and enrollment.
An additional article, "LAUSD in crisis over its new Misis computer system", by Thomas Himes from Los Angeles Daily News,
strengthens Ceasar's argument by further explaining the issues wrought by
Misis. Similar to Ceasar, Himes beings his article by stating the
administrative complications of Misis with student schedules and enrollment, as
he writes that teachers stopped using the new system after "days of
dealing with glitches and other problems that have lost records and kept
students from starting in the proper classes." Hime goes on to give more
examples and details of the difficulties students and parents had to undergo
due to Misis. However, unlike Ceasar, Hime discloses the history behind Misis
and how it came to be implemented by the district. Misis was initially launched
to "comply with federal law and a nearly 20-year-old court settlement
reached after the district admitted to losing the records of a student…"
Hime provides an insightful explanation for the implementation of Misis and
helps the reader understand the original purpose of the program, which may have
been hard to grasp, amidst all the errors it was causing.
Another article "LAUSD Teachers Told
To Not Use New MISIS Computer System Friday", from CBS Los Angeles, adds emphasis
to the grave issues the Misis is causing. Similar to Hime and Ceasar, the
author of this article delineates upon the complications generated by the newly
installed administration program. The author explains that "data was not
saved-including student grades and attendance records- were lost… and will have
to be re-entered." Unlike the previous ones, this article mentions the
district's attempts to fix the issue, and imparts a rather neutral argument in
which the district is not wholly condemned, as it is in articles of Hime and
Ceasar. The author writes that the LAUSD has "imposed a hiring freeze this
week as the district pays to fix MISIS". The teachers union's view is
included as well, as the article says "the teachers union want the
district to scrap the program and use the old system until a better solution
can be found." The author not only diversifies the argument by including
views from the students, teachers, and the district, but also creates a neutral
argument that invites the reader to assess the issue with a rational attitude,
without any bias.
These three articles by
Ceasar, Hime, and CBS Los Angeles provide much insight to the Misis issue that
has affected many students, teachers, and parents across the district. The
distinct features of each article complement one another and contribute a
varied view on the topic, and give the audience a more profound experience.
