A new generation of Park and Rec Staff

November 29, 2012 By Leave a Comment


By Steve Weingarten, People for Parks

imageGraduates of a Dept. of Labor training program in South L.A. and Hollywood get ready for the working world

Parks mean different things to different people. Children make a beeline for the swings and slides, young adults choose sides for half-court basketball games, and families enjoy scarce green space for cookouts. When Nick Pedreira looks at a park, the Marine Corps veteran sees his future.

Pedreira and dozens of other Green Team members have learned to build and maintain urban parks in an 8-week program funded by the U.S. Department of Labor. Training was provided in classrooms, at a variety of public areas, and at Community-School Parks (CSPs) run by the L.A. Unified School District and People for Parks (PFP).

On Nov. 15, PFP and the Coalition for Responsible Community Development (CRCD) hosted a ceremony in South L.A. for Green Team graduates, who are now certified in skills applicable to private and public recreation facilities for creating and sustaining green spaces and maintaining recreational equipment.

CRCD Youth Development Director Noemi Soto told trainees that their graduation will unlock greater accomplishments, and said she was reminded of rapper Tupac Shakur’s verse, “I’m not saying I’m gonna change the world, but I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world.”

PFP President Jack Foley recounted his own stormy youth as the son of a single mother in Northern California, including fights and getting expelled from high school before going on to earn a doctorate and teach at Cal State University Northridge. “Life is a long distance run. You can change. Connect with the people that can help you.”

Albert Areola described how proud he was to graduate. “I have messed up enough during my life. Now, at 20, I feel I have accomplished something. I thank CRCD for helping me to make my family happy.”

imageGreen Team member Kimberly Gafford receives her certification and diploma from CRCD’s Sal Ybarra (center) and Alex Martinez. Gafford developed new skills — and muscles — during more than 150 hours of classroom and hands-on training to create and maintain parks and recreation programs. Photo by Steve Weingarten

Graduate Kimberly Gafford said she developed new skills – and muscles – in the program. “Landscaping is hard. You have to put your love into it. They had us filling wheelbarrows with soil and moving it across the street.”

Gafford is looking for a job now, but is concerned about being taken seriously in a field largely dominated by men. Meanwhile, she is working on the CRCD outreach team and studying speech. “I’m shy,” she said, “but I think that will help me communicate better.”

Joi Chilton was working for Jack in the Box before the training program. “The skills we learned are awesome. I like landscaping, and I love painting and finishing.” Chilton is now working for ADT alarm systems while she looks for work as a painter.

CSPs are landscaped playgrounds providing a healthier environment for students during the week and a safe spot for the whole neighborhood to enjoy during weekends and school breaks. Late last year, as PFP and the school district were putting the finishing touches on their first two CSPs, the Department of Labor agreed to pay at-risk youth while they learned to maintain the unconventional green spaces.

CRCD and another training partner, the Hollywood Beautification Team (HBT), recruited 18- to 24-year-olds from the neighborhoods around Trinity Street Elementary in South L.A. and Vine Street Elementary in Hollywood. Candidates had to pass a background check, but a high school diploma or GED weren’t required.

Trainees got their hands dirty learning the newest techniques in landscaping, pesticides and nutrition, including how to build bio-swales to prevent water from running off and redirecting it back into the water table. The 165-hour curriculum also included career strategies and life skills, such as handling a checking account and managing a budget.

For example, Florida-based Scott Burton, who educates experienced park professionals, gave a 3-hour training to the HBT Green Team on inspecting play equipment, including state and federal requirements for fall protection and other safety issues. Trainee Kathryn Loutzenagiser said Burton “taught us about all the dangers in a park for little kids, and all the things you can do to make parks safer.”

Miguel Cowo has worked with HBT since his senior year in high school, but hadn’t considered urban forestry as a calling until a landscape architect spoke to the class about how cities are going green. “All around us people are planting trees and creating parks, and it came into focus that this could be a great job for us.”

Angel de León said Green Team members are remaking neighborhoods “like you would want to live there. We are making a difference, whether it’s removing graffiti or planting trees. People thank us when we finish a job.”

Loutzenagiser, Cowo and De León all attended Vine Street Elementary as children. At the graduation ceremony, PFP’s Nancy Matthews told the trainees that the public-private partnership with the Labor Department is one way the government can help. “But you guys are the life of this program. You touched lives, communities and people, and have become role models for younger kids in the community.”

For more information about the Green Team program, contact Steve Weingarten of People for Parks at (626) 675-2156.

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Jobs as Metro drivers available

November 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment


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Urban Media Foundation workshop

November 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment


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OPINION: Crenshaw High School Community Against Reconstitution

November 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment



By: Christina Lewis, Crenshaw High Special Education Teacher
Irvin Alvarado, Crenshaw High Alumni, Coalition for Educational Justice Organizer
Alex Caputo-Pearl, Crenshaw High Social Justice Lead Teacher, UTLA Board of Directors
Eunice Grigsby, Crenshaw High Parent, Crenshaw High Alumna

On October 23, Superintendent Deasy announced he intends to reconstitute Crenshaw High School. This scorched earth “reform” that is destructive for students, communities and employees has been used at Fremont, Clinton, Manual Arts and more, despite courageous push-backs at those schools. image

The Crenshaw school community is determined to fight back. The slogan that permeated the emergency 150-person Crenshaw Town Hall Meeting at the African-American Cultural Center on October 4 crystallizes the struggle — “Keep Crenshaw: Our School, Our Children, Our Community.”

In an attempt to disarm the push back and win public support, Deasy is combining the reconstitution with a full-school magnet conversion. Crenshaw stakeholders are, of course, open to conversations that will improve conditions and outcomes for our students — but those must be collaborative and well-resourced. That said, it is clear that Deasy’s main objective is not magnet conversion – it is to take top-down control of the school and reconstitute (which means removing all faculty and staff from the school, with an “opportunity to re-apply”).

The school community says NO to any form of reconstitution, and YES to school improvement that includes stakeholders and holds LAUSD accountable for its years of neglect and mismanagement.

In this spirit, teacher, parent and administrative leaders of Crenshaw’s nationally-recognized Extended Learning Cultural model have been reaching out to Deasy to work in collaboration for over a year and a half. He has not responded. It’s clear that Deasy has cynically set Crenshaw up – persistently ignoring calls to meet when it is about something locally-developed and progressive; later, acting as if nothing is happening at the school, and dropping the reconstitution bomb.image

The Extended Learning Cultural model has been developed at Crenshaw over the last several years. The approach is to teach students standards-based material wedded with cognitive skills used in real life efforts to address issues at school, in the community, and with local businesses. Cultural relevance, Positive Behavior Support, parent/community engagement and collaborative teacher training and excellence are foundations of the program. Students engage in rigorous classroom work, as well as internships, job shadowing, leadership experiences, school improvement efforts and work experiences.

The Extended Learning Cultural model is fundamentally about extending the meaning, space and time of learning, and extending the school into the community and vice versa. This rooting of learning into a context is essential for students who have been constantly uprooted and destabilized by economic injustice and a school system that focuses on narrow test-taking rather than cultural relevance. Extended Learning could be enhanced dramatically for our students with LAUSD support. Instead, by threatening it, Deasy is jeopardizing Crenshaw’s progress, outside partnerships and outside funding.

Moreover, the Extended Learning Cultural model is supported by research – it draws from the Ford Foundation and various progressive academics’ national More and Better Learning Time Initiative, and it has been developed at Crenshaw with USC, the Bradley Foundation and other nationally-recognized research partners.

In contrast, the research shows that reconstitutions are not good for students. Reconstitutions cut students off from the faculty and staff they know, from programs they are involved in and from the communities surrounding their schools. Districts reconstitute schools in working class communities of color, creating more instability and uprootedness for students who are often our most vulnerable. Reconstitutions are educational racism. For more details, see a brand new study from UC Berkeley and the Annenberg Institute at Brown University at http://nepc.colorado.edu/files/pb-turnaroundequity_0.pdf.

Extended Learning showed results at Crenshaw in its first year of partial implementation, 2011-2012, after 2 years of planning. Crenshaw dipped on some indicators between 2009 and 2011 when the school had a principal who wasn’t the first choice of the selection committee, who was imposed by LAUSD, and who did not work collaboratively. However, when the school regained focus around Extended Learning in 2011-2012, the data showed growth, including:

  • Meeting all State of California API growth targets except for one, often far exceeding the targets (for example, a 92 point API gain among special education students);

  • Reducing suspensions and expulsions;

  • Achieving substantial growth among African-American students on the API, reaching API levels significantly higher than African-American students at many other South LA high schools;

  • Achieving an explosive increase in math proficiency levels among Limited English Proficient students on the CAHSEE;

  • Achieving a huge jump in proficiency levels in CST math among all 10th graders;

  • Including many more students in internships and work experiences;

  • Organizing more partnerships for wrap-around services for students;

  • Increasing parental involvement

Yet, Superintendent Deasy wants to disrupt this trajectory of growth and reconstitute Crenshaw. Worse yet, he wants to do this without any consultation with the community, parents, students, alumni, faculty and staff. Part of his agenda is to curry favor with the national scorched earth “reform” movement. Another part is straight union-busting. He has said many times he doesn’t like the teacher union leadership at Crenshaw – many of the very leaders who have been at the forefront of building the Extended Learning Cultural model, its national connections, and the growth that has come from it.

Not surprisingly, other schools that have been reconstituted in LAUSD have undergone “re-application” and “re-hiring” processes that have been shady – unrepresentative hiring bodies, discrimination against older staff and teachers of color, and discrimination against staff based on political issues.

The Crenshaw school community has a strategy to win the push back against Deasy’s reconstitution and to win support for the Extended Learning Cultural model and other enhancements:

  • Amidst Deasy’s intense destabilization efforts that affect the school daily, educators, staff, and parents are working with site administration to tighten up school operations as much as possible;

  • The school community is deepening, refining, and broadening engagement around the Extended Learning Cultural model;

  • Faculty and staff have strongly solidified against reconstitution internally;

  • School stakeholders are building on years of work with a unique coalition of community partners to organize parents, students, alumni, and community. This coalition includes Ma’at Institute for Community Change; African-American Cultural Center; Black Clergy, Community, and Labor Alliance; Coalition for Black Student Equity; Labor/Community Strategy Center; Coalition for Educational Justice; Sierra Club; Southern Christian Leadership Conference; Park Mesa Heights Community Council; and more.

  • The coalition is working closely with UTLA. The House of Representatives voted unanimously to support the Crenshaw struggle. UTLA West Area and Progressive Educators for Action (PEAC) are critical supports for the ongoing organizing.

At the moment, the organizing will focus on the two places Deasy needs to go with his destructive plan for approval – the LAUSD School Board and the California Department of Education (Deasy cannot undermine Crenshaw’s federal School Improvement Grant, SIG, without communicating with Sacramento, because the grant is administered by the State).

The Crenshaw school community knows that the eyes of the city, state, and nation are watching Crenshaw. If Deasy gets his way at Crenshaw, it further opens the door to these kinds of moves everywhere – including places he’s already attacking locally with similar reconstitution efforts, like King Middle School, and far more. On the other hand, if Crenshaw is able to organize with school and community to push back on Deasy and to further advance a deep and hopeful educational and racial justice-based reform, its reverberations will be felt incredibly widely. Keep connected to the struggle and “like” us through the Facebook page – Crenshaw Cougars Fighting Reconstitution – and be in contact with us through email at [email protected].

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OPINION:  The cancer battle

October 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment


By Martha Sánchez

imageTourists taking pictures in front of the White House that it is illuminated pink in honor of cancer victims. Official White House Photo by Sonya N. Herbert. Oct 1, 2012

“Think Pink Young Americans” says the electronic message that I received from the White House to commemorate the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month to honor all women and men affected by such terrible disease. Through this message, United States President Barack Obama proclaims October as the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, emphasizing that this year “tens of thousands are expected to lose their lives to the disease.” In addition to that, he highlights more than 200,000 women that will be diagnosed with breast cancer the upcoming year. (The White House Office of the Press Secretary, Presidential Proclamation—National Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2012. October 1, 2012. However, those numbers are just a small representation from the total of people diagnosed with cancer.

According to the National Cancer Institute, the term “cancer” refers not to one disease but many diseases that are grouped in many categories. (National Cancer Institute. Cancer Trends Progress Report – 2011/2012 Update, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, MD, August 2012) Actually, there are more than one-hundred types of cancer, and despite the significant progress achieved by research institutions, the exact causes of breast cancer remain unknown. For that reason, the Obama Administration stands with the mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, and friends affected by such terrible disease. And there is no reason to doubt his words, considering that his mom lost the battle against ovarian cancer.

imageMartha Sánchez with her children, Gonzalo and Catherine Romero.

Although I openly acknowledge his positive remarks and his personal commitment to eradicate this “social epidemic” through his well-known “Affordable Care Act,” in my humble opinion, I truly believe that his plan only addresses one branch of the problem while ignoring its roots. In other words, honoring those who we have lost to cancer, lending our strength and praying for them is never enough and it doesn’t address the roots of the problem. Frankly, educating people and providing psychological intervention programs for cancer victims, only insults my intelligence.

Sincerely, I don’t feel compelled by looking at this picture. In fact, I feel upset with most cancer campaigns. And why I shouldn’t be upset if that picture represents another well-coordinated effort to encourage citizens, governmental agencies, private businesses, nonprofit organizations, and all other interested groups to join in activities that will basically increase “awareness” of what Americans can do to prevent breast cancer without addressing the real problem. Technically, what I’m getting from this “Official Pink House” picture is a friendly invitation to comply with the system rules and ignore the external forces that are killing us softly. Through this new campaign, the government wants me to be peaceful and conventional while embracing with honor my predesigned destiny that is always sponsored it by neighborly corporations.

Please don’t get my message wrong: I do officially stand with all cancer victims. In reality, I empathize with them because both of my grandmothers died of cancer. My mom had a hysterectomy several years ago and my educational background is related with such disease. Indeed, I supposed to be working in a lab identifying cancerous cells in Mexico, but greater forces brought me to the United States where my real battle against cancer took place when I moved with my own family to South Los Angeles, the poorest neighborhood of Los Angeles City.

imagePalace Plating plant at South San Pedro Street and E. 30th Street.

In 2003, the Air Quality Management District hosted a public meeting at my children’s school to let us know that Palace Plating, a chrome-plating company located across the street from my children’s elementary school, was using chemicals identified by the State of California as carcinogens. I never thought that there was something wrong until I started learning the stories of those living in our community.

Over the past ten years, I was able to record information about children suffering from mental retardation, autism, birth defects, neurological damage, and many other symptoms such as asthma, abdominal pain, vomiting, dizziness, vision problems, nose hemorrhaging, and more—the list goes on and on. More than ten teachers and former school workers died of cancer and many more are cancer survivors. As I fought for the permanent closure of the company, I was able to collect dozens of people’s testimonies that helped me to prove my claims and to achieve my demands of permanently closing that company last December.

Those personal narratives certainly directed me to the actual responsible of this cancer crisis—the Environmental Protection Agency and the lower rank agencies sheltered under its umbrella. After recording people’s testimonies, I concluded that the war on cancer is a multi-billion dollar industry that makes money not to cure cancer but to address the cost of its treatments. I discovered as well that media have contributed to the problem by turning the “guilty into innocent” and the victim into a “proud survivor.” Ten years of work led me to conclude that the American Cancer Society and its allies—the corporate supporters and politicians helped by the media—have betrayed and exploited the public with their “bogus campaigns against cancer.”

Let me explain why I don’t feel sympathy, not even grateful for having so many generous “cancer supporters.” Through this “Pink House” campaign, President Obama has stated that “the exact causes of breast cancer remain unknown, but understanding its risk factors is essential to prevention.” Certainly there is plenty of evidence against those “huge corporate-sponsors.” Those companies have been targeted by the National Environmental Protection Agency as “toxic polluters” and accused by environmentalists as directly responsible for producing environmental carcinogens. With so much evidence at hand, then why it is that the national regulatory agencies are not doing their part by prosecuting them? Well, they have successfully avoided public responsibility by donating a portion of their sales to the cancer research and by drawing the attention to our “bad health, live and eating habits” instead.

Touching the lives of Americans from every background and in every community throughout the nation is very profitable. Let’s think about the amount of things that we can “Shop for the Cure.” Today, we can do anything to find the cure like running, biking, climbing, jumping, cooking, and even organizing mass events, public demonstrations, and you name it—the sky is the limit! But even more importantly, we can feel good and look better if we join America’s cancer movement by buying teddy bears or wearing amulets, talismans, bracelets, and showing out those popular pink ribbon brooches in public.

Let’s be honest, those fashionable “rosy goodies” have only improved the character of cynical merchants such as Revlon, Avon, Tiffany, Pier 1, Estee Lauder, Ralph Lauren, JC Penny and many more… the same ones that are making their consumers sick! What we really need to do is to stop putting on their cosmetics and consuming their costly “beauty” products. The problem is that we have become masters at fooling ourselves into thinking that we are automatically supporting the treatment for a cancer victim any time that we buy those healthy-looking products.

According to HSP-Online.com, in an article named, Processed Food there are over 6,000 synthetic chemicals used in the processed food industry. This industry has deceived the public and governmental health agencies by ensuring that their products are safe for human consumption. Although most information is available to the public, the material is presented in technical language with scientific notations which most people—including me — find intimidating and difficult to understand.

Therefore, as long as we continue ignoring the real causes of cancer, older women and those that are living in close proximity to industrial facilities, regardless their gender and age, will continue to endure the aggressive and obsolete practice of chemotherapy. I strongly believe that it is time for us to elaborate a real plan and an authentic “anti-cancer campaign.” Incidentally, I came out with a better version for your campaign Mr. President; hopefully you could find it more inclusive.
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Opinion:  LAUSD: Don’t limit school choice for parents!

September 28, 2012 By Leave a Comment


By Yolanda Garcia, Parent at Aspire Antonio Maria Lugo in Huntington Park
Traducción española abajo

On September 11, Steve Zimmer, one of the seven members of the Board of the Unified School District of Los Angeles, presented a proposal to limit public school options for families. Zimmer proposed that the Board not consider or approve any petitions to open new charter schools. Charter schools are public schools, free and open to all children, but are independent of the school district. The Board will vote on this proposal on October 9.

I am against this proposal, not because of politics, but because of my own experience as a mother of four living here in South Los Angeles. I ask the members of the Board, including Steve Zimmer, to listen to parents and not to limit the options for families like mine.

I offer up my own story and how charter schools have had a positive impact on my family. I have four children aged 14, 12, 9 and 7. My two older children started their education at a traditional LAUSD school.

At that time, I knew nothing about test scores or how they measure school performance. What I saw was that my children were not getting a good education.

One of my sons had problems with dialect and pronunciation, but the school told me he did not qualify for tutoring. Also, there was no consistency with the teachers, my two children had several substitutes for many months and this has a big impact on them. I was frustrated, but I had to send them to school the district assigned us – we had no choice.

In 2005, I learned that a new charter school was going to open near Pacific and Gage, open to all students and that would enroll students regardless of where they lived. The school would have fewer students in each classroom, so that every student could receive individual attention. The new school was a little bit far from where we live, but I decided to enroll my children. The teachers at the LAUSD school told me I was going to regret this decision.

From the moment I entered the school office at Aspire Antonio Maria Lugo, I could see the difference. There was no comparison – from the service and communication, to the level of education and all the support that the students receive.

In our school, parents, teachers and all the school staff work together – we are a team helping to develop the academic success of the students. I want the best for my children. I want them to go to college and here at Aspire, there is no doubt that all the children will go to college and become professionals. This was something I could not even imagine when my children were attending district schools – now it is a reality.

I feel I was very lucky to be able to enroll my children in an Aspire charter school, but there are many parents who are on waiting lists for their children to enter into a charter school. Currently, around 10,000 families are on waiting lists to get into a charter school in Los Angeles. As a mother, I wish that all students have the opportunity to go to a charter school.

There are waiting lists because parents are seeing the difference and they are interested in improving the quality of education of their children. The traditional public schools are failing our children, and our children can’t wait.

But Steve Zimmer wants us to wait. We will not wait!

As parents, it is our responsibility to ensure the future of our children. It is also our right to demand quality public schools. So, I ask Steve Zimmer to listen to parents, and to focus on providing good schools, not to limit the educational options for families.

El pasado 11 de septiembre, Steve Zimmer, uno de los siete miembros de la Junta Directiva del Distrito Escolar Unificado de Los Angeles, presentó una propuesta para limitar las opciones disponibles de escuelas públicas para toda familia. Zimmer propuso que la Junta Directiva no considere ni apruebe ninguna solicitud para abrir nuevas escuelas chárter. Las escuelas chárter son escuelas públicas, gratuitas y abiertas a todo niño, pero son independientes del distrito escolar. La Junta va a votar en esta propuesta el próximo 9 de octubre.

Estoy en contra de esta propuesta, no por causa de la política sino por mi propia experiencia como madre de cuatro hijos viviendo aquí en el sur de Los Angeles. Les pido a los miembros de la Junta Directiva, incluso a Steve Zimmer, que escuchen a los padres y que no limiten las opciones para familias, como la mía.

Les ofrezco mi propia historia y como las escuelas chárter han tenido un impacto positivo para mi familia. Tengo cuatros hijos de 14, 12, 9 y 7 años. Mis dos niños mayores empezaron sus estudios en una escuela tradicional del LAUSD.

En ese entonces, yo no sabía nada como se mide el desempeño de las escuelas. Lo que sí vi, es que mis hijos no estaban recibiendo una buena educación.

Uno de mis hijos tenía problemas de lenguaje y pronunciación, pero los directores de la escuela me dijeron que no calificaba para recibir terapia de lenguaje. También, no había consistencia con los maestros; mis dos hijos tuvieron varios substitutos durante muchos meses y les impactó bastante. Estaba frustrada, pero tuve que enviarlos a la escuela que el distrito nos asignó – no tenía otra opción.

En el 2005, me enteré de que se iba a abrir una nueva escuela chárter cerca de Pacific y Gage, abierta a todo estudiante y que matricularía a estudiantes sin importar su lugar de residencia. La escuela tendría menos estudiantes en cada aula, para que todo estudiante pudiera recibir atención individual. La escuela nos quedaba un poco lejos de donde vivimos, pero decidí inscribir a mis hijos. Los maestros de la escuela del LAUSD me dijeron que me iba a arrepentir por esta decisión.

Desde el momento que entré a la oficina de la escuela chárter Aspire Antonio Maria Lugo, pude ver la diferencia. No hay comparación – desde el servicio y la comunicación, hasta el nivel de la educación y todo el apoyo que reciben los estudiantes.

En nuestra escuela, nosotros los padres , maestros y todo el personal de la escuela trabajamos juntos – somos un equipo ayudando a desarrollar el éxito académico en nuestros estudiantes. Yo quiero lo mejor para mis hijos. Yo quiero que vayan a la universidad y aquí en Aspire, no hay duda todos los niños van a ir a la universidad y seran profesionistas. Esto ni siquiera lo podía imaginar cuando mis hijos asistían a escuelas del distrito, ahora es una realidad.

Siento que tuve mucha suerte en poder inscribir a mis hijos en la escuela chárter Aspire, pero todavía hay muchos padres que están en listas de espera para que sus niños entren en una escuela chárter. Actualmente, alrededor de 10 mil familias están en listas de espera para entrar en una escuela chárter en Los Angeles. Como madre, me gustaría que todo estudiante tuviera la oportunidad de ir a una escuela chárter.

Hay listas de espera porque los padres están viendo la diferencia y están interesados en mejorar la calidad en la educación de sus hijos Las escuelas públicas tradicionales no están cumpliendo con nuestros hijos, y ellos no pueden esperar.

Pero Steve Zimmer quiere que esperemos. ¡No vamos a esperar!

Como padres, es nuestra la responsabilidad velar por el futuro de nuestros niños. También es nuestro derecho exigir escuelas públicas de calidad. Por eso, le pido a Steve Zimmer que escuche a los padres, y que se enfoque en proveer buenas escuelas, no en limitar las opciones educativas para las familias.

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Opinion:  Many Dorsey High School members united to stop reconstitution

September 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment


By Taylor Broom (Dorsey Alumni class of 2011, Community Organizer with Coalition for Educational Justice—CEJ), Sharonne Hapuarachy (Dorsey Teacher and English Dept. Chair), Hilda Daily (Dorsey parent) and Noah Lippe-Klein (Dorsey teacher and UTLA Chapter Chair)

Last Spring, Superintendent Deasy rejected Dorsey High School’s PSC (Public School Choice) plan and said if our upcoming re-write was not to his liking, then he would reconstitute Dorsey.

Upon hearing this, parents and alumni started meeting weekly to discuss a two-pronged approach to prevent reconstitution: (1) learn how students and community have been impacted by reconstitutions at other schools, and (2) unite a broad coalition of Dorsey community, Crenshaw community and the people throughout South LA, around the idea that reconstituting a school with such a committed faculty and strong programs would hurt students.

imageTaylor Broom, a co-author of this story and a Dorsey High School alum.

So, what is the Dorsey community doing to fight back?

• Dorsey parents and students have been speaking at School Board meetings to tell Deasy and the LAUSD Board members all the reasons that reconstitution would harm the school. (See videos of these powerful presentations and “like” us at facebook.com/DorseyDonsFightingReconstitution .)
• Dorsey parents, alumni and teachers hosted a workshop at a major South LA conference this summer to raise awareness about reconstitution among community members and elected officials.
• Dorsey and Crenshaw teachers and alumni began working with a group of respected black community leaders and organizations in South LA (Ma’at Institute for Community Change, African American Cultural Center, CEJ) who have been advocating to improve schools. This coalition is prioritizing fighting institutionally racist policies in LAUSD, like the disproportionate suspension rates of black students, preventing reconstitution, AND supporting the struggles around Dorsey and Crenshaw school improvement.
• Dorsey stakeholders are in dialogue with Crenshaw teachers and community members and the entire Dorsey/Crenshaw feeder system. We see our struggle as one and the same because over the summer Crenshaw had to push back against Deasy’s threats to end its nationally recognized extended learning school reform model. Both schools are working closely with the community to prevent reconstitution and implement a plan rooted in culturally relevant, research-based strategies to meet the needs of our students.
• Dorsey’s staff and community are working closely with our principal to write a high-quality plan.  Implementing a reform plan that works for Dorsey’s students is a key priority.

NOW DORSEY NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT: On September 27, Dorsey’s parents, alumni, community and students are planning a major community event with the theme of “Celebrating, Improving and Fighting for Dorsey.” 

The event will celebrate Dorsey’s:
• teachers and faculty who have impacted lives
• programs that serve students
• role in the community

Celebrating Dorsey’s strengths is a way of saying, “Our school should not be reconstituted.” 

Why is it so critical to prevent the reconstitution of Dorsey? 

If sponsoring teachers lost their positions, key programs (like the Dorsey Ivy League College Preparation program, the prestigious Culinary Arts program, the rising Academic Decathlon team, the Annual Student Film Festival, the nationally recognized Theater Department, the 20thCentury Fox Partnership, and so much more) would be lost. Other reconstituted schools have already experienced this hemorrhaging and Dorsey would be at risk for this as well.

We also worry about the loss of faculty who support the disproportionately high number of Dorsey students in foster care and group homes. Many of these students rely on their teachers and counselors to provide stability in their lives.

Reconstitution would bring a newer faculty with less understanding of how to build upon some of Dorsey’s strengths:
• The number of committed teacher-alumni and teachers living in the community. Often, teachers with strong ties to community are pushed out of a reconstituted school.
• Strong ties that Dorsey has with black institutions in the community who support Dorsey’s students, the connections with historically black colleges and the growing number of ivy league schools that recruit Dorsey’s students.
• The gains made by the growing number of English Language Learner students—Dorsey has made huge strides in re-designating these students through focused support.

Are we merely trying to stop reconstitution? No, we are serious about improvements at Dorsey too — for example, improvements in pedagogy, personalization, community ties, internships, and the career and college readiness of students.

This fight won’t be won on Sept 27th, but if you care about Dorsey, the Dorsey/Crenshaw community, South LA, and public education in general, then mark your calendars and attend this critical event.

Location:  100 feet from Dorsey’s campus at the Rancho Cienega Gym. 5001 Rodeo, Los Angeles. at 5:30 pm  Click here for a map of the location.

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Crenshaw graduate to be a delegate at the DNC

August 27, 2012 By Leave a Comment


imageI am only 17 and I’m attending the 2012 Democratic National Convention as the youngest member of the California delegation team. I would have never thought about signing up to go to the DNC without the push from my education mentor Ms. Daphne Bradford. Four years ago, when I was selected to enroll in Ms. B’s 9th grade digital media certification class I couldn’t have imagined that upon graduating high school in June 2012 I would be invited by Organizing for America, the president’s grassroots organizing machine, to go to Charlotte, North Carolina to represent California.

I’ll be 18 years old the day before the November 6th presidential election. My very first vote will be for President Barack Obama, the first African American president of the United States. Most of my peers and students across the nation don’t know they can apply to be a district level delegate, at-large delegate or a member of one of the president’s DNC committees. Ms. B knew I was planning on voting this year so she informed me that I qualified to become a delegate. Running for district level delegate was a fun experience although I didn’t win one of the four male spots for congressional district 37. When I got the call from Ms. Bradford informing me that Mary Jane Stevenson, OFA-California state director had selected me to serve on President Obama’s Credentials Committee as part of the CA delegation team I was pleasantly surprised.

In my government class I learned about delegates going to conventions during general elections but I had no idea that someone as young as myself could be a member of a delegate team. The Credentials Committee handles questions and any problems involving the seating of delegates and alternates at the convention. I will attend committee briefings a few hours after I touch ground in Charlotte, NC. From Sunday, September 2 through Thursday, September 6, when President Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination, I will have a say in the DNC decision-making process. I’m excited that my voice will be heard.

Going to the Democratic National Convention will be a learning experience for me because it will be out of my comfort zone. Most young people like myself find politics boring and not as important as it is. This will be the first time that I am a part of a political event of this size, and I think young people such as myself should get more involved in politics because government decisions affect our lives.

As soon as someone turns 18 I believe they should register to vote so they can vote for the person they want in the White House and their communities. Being the fact that I will have the chance to vote this year — because my birthday is the day before the presidential election — I am going to vote for the presidential candidate that is going to try and assist citizens with their financial needs and education. This in turn will benefit me in the long run because I need as much financial assistance as I can get for my college education. I will be a freshman at Cal Poly Pomona this fall.

Since I was involved in politics in the 9th grade, I know which candidate is going to help me with my financial assistance. I’ve been supporting President Barack Obama all this time. The Democratic National Convention allows me to further support the presidential candidate who will assist middle class families like mine. I hope to see other people as young as myself at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC.

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , , ,

Boys to Men life skills program open to boys 12-17

July 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment


On August 21st, On A Mission will begin our “Boys To Men” Life Skills Program for boys ages 12-17. This program will address some of today’s most pressing issues facing young men today. The 8-week workshops will include: Self-Esteem, Respect, Fatherhood, Goal Setting, Health & Fitness, How To Open & Manage a bank account, Dress For Success, Pregnancy Prevention, Mock Job Interviews, and Much More…

On Thursday, August 14th, we will host a Meet and Greet and sign-ups session for parents of kids participating, Parents will have the chance to ask any questions they may have regarding the program.  The meet and greet will take place from 7-9PM, at On A Mission, Inc. 

On A Mission, Inc.
3031 W. Vernon Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90008
(323) 298-4779

For More Information:
Call On A Mission, Inc at (323) 298-4779 or log on to http://www.joinoam.org

Register Your Child Today *Space Is Limited*

To make a tax deductible donation or to sponsor a child click here

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Filed Under: Blog

Request for donations in back-to-school drive

July 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment


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Filed Under: Education
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