ilbegone
02-12-2010, 09:08 PM
Editorial opinion LA Daily News
Classroom content
LAUSD has problems, but integration in charter schools isn't one of them
02/11/2010
IF you're looking for something to worry about in the Los Angeles Unified School District, there's no shortage of topics: the district's inability to weed out bad teachers, its dismal test scores, its horrific dropout rate.
But there's one thing you need not lose any sleep over: the racial balance of students at LAUSD charter schools.
A new study from the Civil Rights Project at the University of California, Los Angeles, has some folks sounding alarm bells over its findings that, nationwide, charters are less racially integrated than traditional public schools. But the problem is rather limited - and it's more than offset by the world of good that charters have done for public education in Los Angeles.
When talking about racial balance at L.A. schools, one has to keep in mind that "diversity" is bound to be pretty rare. Some 76 percent of the district's students are Latino, while only 9 percent are black and 7 percent are white. All the busing and magnets in the world won't change those basic demographics, which all but assure that there will not be a whole lot of integration at most campuses.
By comparison, the demographic mix at L.A.'s charters is, overall, slightly more even: Local charters are 61 percent Latino, 17 percent black and 15 percent white.
More important than district-wide numbers, however, are the proportions at specific campuses, and those vary widely. For example, Vaughn Next Century Learning Academy in Pacoima is 97 percent Latino. Ivy Academia, which has campuses throughout the West Valley, is 44 percent white and 27 percent Latino. Granada Hills Charter High School is 30 percent Latino and 32 percent white.
It's a mixed bag. Some charters are more diverse, others less so. In a perfect world, they all would give students a broad experience of classmates and teachers of all ethnic and racial backgrounds.
But this is not a perfect world. And while charters tend to look a lot like the communities in which they're located, it's worth remembering that they also provide a desperately needed educational alternative for families of all races and incomes who for too long have been stuck in traditional, failing public campuses.
Remember: Charters are schools of choice. If Vaughn is 97 percent Latino, that's because the predominantly Latino community in Pacoima wants what everyone wants - a decent education for its kids that's close to home. And if you asked the parents at Vaughn, they would likely say that sacrificing a little diversity is a small price to pay for achieving a brighter future for their children.
This isn't the Old South, where segregation was part of a deliberate policy to subject African-Americans to poorer, substandard schools. On the contrary, the purpose of charters is to offer the utmost in educational opportunity to everyone.
Angelenos should take heart. Ours is a post-racial city in a post-racial age, where the content of the classroom matters far more than the color of the students.
Classroom content
LAUSD has problems, but integration in charter schools isn't one of them
02/11/2010
IF you're looking for something to worry about in the Los Angeles Unified School District, there's no shortage of topics: the district's inability to weed out bad teachers, its dismal test scores, its horrific dropout rate.
But there's one thing you need not lose any sleep over: the racial balance of students at LAUSD charter schools.
A new study from the Civil Rights Project at the University of California, Los Angeles, has some folks sounding alarm bells over its findings that, nationwide, charters are less racially integrated than traditional public schools. But the problem is rather limited - and it's more than offset by the world of good that charters have done for public education in Los Angeles.
When talking about racial balance at L.A. schools, one has to keep in mind that "diversity" is bound to be pretty rare. Some 76 percent of the district's students are Latino, while only 9 percent are black and 7 percent are white. All the busing and magnets in the world won't change those basic demographics, which all but assure that there will not be a whole lot of integration at most campuses.
By comparison, the demographic mix at L.A.'s charters is, overall, slightly more even: Local charters are 61 percent Latino, 17 percent black and 15 percent white.
More important than district-wide numbers, however, are the proportions at specific campuses, and those vary widely. For example, Vaughn Next Century Learning Academy in Pacoima is 97 percent Latino. Ivy Academia, which has campuses throughout the West Valley, is 44 percent white and 27 percent Latino. Granada Hills Charter High School is 30 percent Latino and 32 percent white.
It's a mixed bag. Some charters are more diverse, others less so. In a perfect world, they all would give students a broad experience of classmates and teachers of all ethnic and racial backgrounds.
But this is not a perfect world. And while charters tend to look a lot like the communities in which they're located, it's worth remembering that they also provide a desperately needed educational alternative for families of all races and incomes who for too long have been stuck in traditional, failing public campuses.
Remember: Charters are schools of choice. If Vaughn is 97 percent Latino, that's because the predominantly Latino community in Pacoima wants what everyone wants - a decent education for its kids that's close to home. And if you asked the parents at Vaughn, they would likely say that sacrificing a little diversity is a small price to pay for achieving a brighter future for their children.
This isn't the Old South, where segregation was part of a deliberate policy to subject African-Americans to poorer, substandard schools. On the contrary, the purpose of charters is to offer the utmost in educational opportunity to everyone.
Angelenos should take heart. Ours is a post-racial city in a post-racial age, where the content of the classroom matters far more than the color of the students.