Intersections: Youth Culture in South Los Angeles

Education Crisis in Los Angeles Illuminates Racial and Economic Tension

2009-05-09T12:47:00.001-07:00

As reported for the Huffington Post.

Cash-strapped and desperate, the Los Angeles Unified School District is set to fire around 3,500 teachers before the end of June. Couple these upcoming layoffs with a $595 million budget deficit, and the 2010/2011 school year is looking pretty shady. Resources won’t be getting replenished any time soon. Inner-city schools suffering from high drop-out rates and over-crowded classrooms can expect both of these problems to increase, while education levels across the district fall into decline.

The situation has created a dramatic rift between the community and LAUSD board members. On one side, teachers, parents, students and community leaders are preparing for a full-day strike on May 15th, hoping to urge the LAUSD to spend its almost $1 billion of federal stimulus money immediately and save jobs now. On the other, the LAUSD warns that a short-term fix will only result in even more lay-offs next year. “Obama gave LAUSD money to spend right away to prevent layoffs, but the Superintendent and the School Board are only spending part of the money now,” said Noah Lippe-Klein, a teacher at Dorsey High School in South LA. “They say they are saving the rest for later. This is unacceptable.” Lippe-Klein says that before laying-off teachers to save money, the LAUSD needs to cut private consultant contracts and district administration jobs, and slash wages for those earning over $100,000. The LAUSD says that it has been as thorough as possible in trying to avoid firing teachers. Either way, schools in LA are about to take a turn for the worse.

But the problems facing education standards in Los Angeles affect only one half of the city. Private schools and the affluent districts, like Beverly Hills, responsible for educating LA’s wealthiest children, will no doubt find a way to survive. Meanwhile, Title I schools like Crenshaw High School in South LA, with a 50 percent drop-out rate, a 70 to 30 Black-Latino population, and more than 60 percent of students on the free-lunch program, will be hardest hit. The impact on the city as a whole, however, could be severe. “The number one thing that an economy needs is an educated work force, and that’s what we look to the LAUSD to provide,” said Fernando Guerra, Director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles. “Less resources mean less opportunity and less progress.”

Not only are poorer children a target of educational cutbacks, but so too are LA’s African-American and Latino communities. Together, Black and Hispanic students made up 85 percent of LAUSD high school enrollment in 2007/2008, at 10.9 percent and 73.7 percent respectively, totaling more than 575,000 students. “These cuts are not impacting all communities the same way,” said Lippe-Klein. “As has always been the case, the biggest cuts will hit lower-income African-American and Latino communities.”

Another teacher, Carol Connor from Baldwin Hills Elementary School, says that educational cuts in California, where per-student spending is 47th in the nation, actually severe Fourteenth Amendment rights from poorer, African-American and Latino children. "The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees equal access to education, a fair and equitable one," said Conner. "If our schools are paying less, then our children are not getting equal access to the same quality education as the students in all the other states. Being one of the largest districts, it's amazing to me that this is being allowed.

Arguably, the LAUSD can only do so much. In a state that continues to spend far more on prisoners than students, it’s no wonder that the educational system in Los Angeles is as marred by financial difficulties as the children it serves. Chasms continue to widen, and the social and psychological impacts of below-par schools are deeply ingrained. “We don’t take our education seriously because, what’s the point?” said a ninth-grader at Crenshaw High School. “We’re not going to get anywhere anyway. Most of the teachers don’t care and our text books are so out of date that they don’t make sense.”

Unless some drastic changes are made, soon, tomorrow’s Los Angeles is going to be pretty dire. "The priority should be the children," said Conner. "That’s the future. These are the children that we are going to need to grow up and to replace the jobs that we occupy today. And if they [receive] a mediocre education, then there are going to be a lot of horror stories in the future."

More than 80 percent of students in the LAUSD come from families who have an income below the federal poverty line. These students, who are arguably most in need of educational support, will find more reason to be despondent about their opportunities for success in the next few years. The education they receive already differs greatly from schools on the other side of the city, and with fewer teachers and resources come June 30th, that gap will only widen.

Education, then, contrary to Horace Mann’s belief, in a city like Los Angeles, is not the great equalizer, but the great divider.

Intersections: Mentoring at Crenshaw High School

2009-05-07T12:45:00.000-07:00

As reported for WitnessLA.

Surrounded by a chain-link fence with heavy duty locks on its gates, a group of five teenagers leaned against a car in the parking lot of Crenshaw High School. It was almost 10am on a humid Monday morning. A cloud of smoke was rising above their heads, a hidden joint fanning a smell like skunk road kill out into the clear blue day. When the bell rang, the teenagers grabbed their backpacks and trudged around the corner, through the line of cars, past the vacant cop car on the other side of the metal perimeter, and into the side door of the building.

I followed close behind, stopping to sign in at the portable desk and to slap a “visitor” badge on my shirt for the first time, while more students trickled through the door. A tapestry of signs, hand-written in black permanent marker, was pasted above their heads: “No hoodies,” “No electronic devices,” “Tardy fines start at $250.”

I was here working for “Intersections: The South Los Angeles Reporting Project,” to begin the task of building a journalism mentoring program for the third period, senior seminar class. I was one of a group of USC journalism graduate students teaming up with the Social Justice and Law Academy to teach 35 pupils how to report on their community.

From the outside, Crenshaw High School seemed ominous. Segregated from the busy streets of the Crenshaw District by a quiet residential area, the building was partially obscured shuttered by an 8-foot high chain-link fence. At least one LAPD patrol car sat outside at all times during school hours. Usually, by 3pm, there were two or three. The school’s reputation was also unpromising. I knew Crenshaw had a 50 percent drop-out rate – the fourth highest in the LAUSD – and a reputedly troubling level of student disengagement. Coupled with the police presence and the rumors of on-going racial tension between the 70-30 Black-Hispanic student body, there seemed cause to feel nervous. I imagined metal detectors and security searches, guns in lockers and kids throwing gang signs at one another. But I left those stereotypes at the door that day, as soon as I stepped through and felt the vibrant atmosphere inside.

The hallways were full with voices and echoes, the sound of rubber soles on squeaky linoleum, laughter and chatter, as students slowly filed from one side of campus to the other for third period classes. I walked with a group of two girls and three guys who said they were heading to the same classroom as me. Every few steps we seemed to pass notes of inspiration painted on the walls: “Do what’s in your heart” read large, blue letters at one end of the hallway. At the other, a more discreet manta was on display: “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.” A security guard in a black vest greeted the passing teenagers with a friendly smile. “How you doing today?” he said, extending his arm to touch fists with one of the taller boys. “Good,” the boy replied, and bowed his head as he drifted through the open door to room 102.

As I made my way inside the classroom, three other USC journalism mentors were already standing against the whiteboard. The room was a wall of noise. A third of the kids had earphones in their ears, listening to an invisible beat while leaning lazily across their individual desks. The others were passing papers, laughing and taunting one another in clusters, or composing text messages on cell phones in their laps. On each wall was a poster with a question written in colored marker at the top: “Who leads the country?” The students had penned-in various answers below, from “the President” to “the people.” Frederick Douglass surveyed the room from the front wall, and on the lockers at the back, a sign showing a sad child leaning on his arms read “Stop the budget cuts.”

Alex Caputo-Pearl, aka “Mr. C.P.,” the goateed classroom teacher, called for silence by raising a clenched fist in the air. “Solidarity, everyone” he said. “Solidarity.” The noise sank to a low murmur. “What is the definition of ‘social justice’?” he asked. A voice burst from the back of the room, “human rights!” Another said “freedom!,” and a third called out “civic responsibility!” A girl in the second row put her hand up and said softly, “it means being able to be who you want to be.”

“That’s right,” said Mr.C.P. “And a big part of being who you want to be, of being free and exercising your rights as an individual, is having a voice.”

The plan for this session, he explained after introducing the USC guests, was to brainstorm with the class about potential topics for their first assignment as reporters. Eventually, the 35 students, ages 17 and 18, would be split into groups of four to produce multimedia stories on topics that they felt mattered most to their community. Within half an hour, I was walking between desks explaining what would happen over the next few months. They would be researching, conducting interviews, taking pictures and shooting video. They would be taught how to edit audio, compose a photograph and use slideshow software. Most importantly, their work would not stay in the classroom. It would not be pinned to the walls or showcased only to parents and teachers. It would be posted online for anyone to see. “So,” I said. “What are the most important stories to cover?”

Soon, we were discussing immigration, teenage pregnancy, education spending, racial profiling and drop-out rates. I walked from group to group, asking the class what questions they wanted to find answers to.

“Why aren’t there any parks around here?” asked a girl with a lip piercing. “Where are kids supposed to play?”

“Why do people drop out of school?” discussed inquired the louder girls in the corner.

“What effect is Obama’s presidency going to have on the relationship between Blacks and Hispanics?” asked a group of three Hispanic boys and an African-American girl.

“Why doesn’t Arnold spend more money on education and less on prisons?” said a boy still wearing earphones.

When the bell rang for the end of third period and the students waved goodbye, I realized, for the first time and definitely not the last, that in a city where everyone is so afraid of each other, these kids were fearless. They knew what was wrong with their world and weren’t afraid to talk about it. Convincing them, however, that their words had weight beyond the school’s sunshine-filled hallways was going to be the hardest task. “People see Crenshaw as being the lowest of the lowest because of reputation, because of what they think students are here” one of the seniors, Nataly, would later explain. “They don’t see more than the way we dress, the way we talk, where we come from. Maybe we haven’t been raised the best way ever, but I think that’s why they put us down.”

Crenshaw High School Students Become Journalists for Job-Shadowing Week

2009-04-09T23:32:00.000-07:00

This week, four students from Crenshaw High School came to USC's Annenberg School for Communication to get a taste of a career in journalism. On Tuesday, the students spent the day at Annenberg Radio News, where they helped write scripts for the show and practiced radio hosting. Listen to the show here. On Wednesday, we took a tour of Annenberg Television News and watched a hectic, live newscast being assembled. Thursday, the students were at Annenberg Digital News, http://www.neontommy.com/, creating their own video blog on the topic of "gangs."

Fighting for Educational Rights in South Los Angeles

2009-04-01T12:36:00.000-07:00

California is facing the biggest education spending cuts in history, as well as thousands of job losses for teachers working in South LA's classrooms. Community forums, like the one held on March 30th at the Baha'i Faith Center in Baldwin Park, are bringing educators, students and residents together to make a stand against what some believe to be a violation of the next generation's constitutional rights. Equal access to education, especially in Title I, low-income schools like Crenshaw High School and Dorsey High School, is being jeopardized in a state ranked 47th in the nation for per-student spending.

Listen to this story on Intersections: The South Los Angeles Reporting Project

Crenshaw High School Looks to the Community to Fill Budget Gap

2009-03-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

Education spending is tight in California, and with lay-offs and budget cuts on the horizon, the situation is about to get much worse. But before the pencils are down to a nub, a group of teachers at Crenshaw High School is reaching out to community groups for help filling the gaps left by the government.

Listen to this story on Annenberg Radio News.

The Community Comes Together for Crenshaw High School

2009-03-19T13:58:00.000-07:00

In the Los Angeles Unified School District, teacher lay-offs are on the horizon. The state’s budget deficit has left a shortfall of $700 million. As schools face the prospect of larger class sizes and limited funds for essential resources like text books, some communities are taking the problem into their own hands. The social justice and law academy at Crenshaw High School in South Los Angeles has been reaching out to community groups for help filling the gaps left by the government. I helped three students compose a presentation that would best explain their hopes and aspirations for more community involvement at Crenshaw High School.

Dorsey High School's Culinary Arts Program

2009-02-27T17:29:00.001-08:00

For the first time in my life, I was at school at 8am. O.K. Maybe it was a little after 8am that I arrived at Dorsey High School, in South Los Angeles, after getting lost and driving too far south. I met Daphne Bradford, a multi-media instructor, in the hallway, and we walked passed a long line of students waiting to sign in late. She took me to the cooking classroom, and we walked in on a group of seniors retrieving their cookbooks from the rack. The kitchen was big, stainless steel stretching across half the room, with rows of machinery on the counter-tops and hanging pans lining the walls.

This large room is the home of Dorsey High School's Culinary Arts Program; the class where Miss Marzette teaches her students how to cook, how to serve, and how to run a business. It's much more complicated than traditional "Home Ec," especially since the students added a dab of multi-media talent into the mix. Now they spend their Saturday's writing, filming and editing their own online cooking show, "Cooking Live with Dorsey High."

Listen to the full story on Intersections: The South Los Angeles Reporting Project.

Crenshaw High School: Social Justice and Law Academy, Community Event

2009-02-27T16:48:00.001-08:00