Will South LA benefit from SAT upgrades?



Changes to the SAT, which will be implemented in Spring 2016, claim to make the test more accessible and might bring more to highly-ranked universities, such as USC. | Jordyn Holman

Changes to the SAT, which will be implemented in Spring 2016, claim to make the test more accessible and might bring more to highly-ranked universities, such as USC. | Jordyn Holman

Whenever the SAT gets revised, controversy trails close behind, especially regarding fairness across the board for test-takers from all backgrounds. Many educators have criticized the newest iteration of the test College Board announced this month, which is set to go into effect in two years. But some veteran educators are saying the revamped version holds promise.

Jennifer Hollie, who runs the college prep program for the Challengers Boys and Girls Club in South Los Angeles, feels optimistic about what the new format portends for students from disadvantaged communities.

“For [the College Board] to change the way the SAT is being written is a positive change,” said Hollie, who assists high school students from underserved communities with the college admission process by involving them in comprehensive programs.

“Even with my master’s degree I don’t always understand the words that they’re giving,” she said.

The revisions to the SAT include the elimination of obscure vocabulary words and the penalty for guessing wrong. It will also adapt the essay, which became mandatory in 2005, so that it is an optional test component, according to a College Board press release. The new SAT will have three sections, including reading and writing, math and the optional essay. It will be scored out of 1600 instead of 2400 points.  [Read more…]

LA County Office of Education forced Kedren Head Start closure, says Waters



Maxine Waters speaking outside the LACOE meeting on Tuesday. | Stephanie Monte

Maxine Waters speaking outside the LACOE meeting on Tuesday. | Stephanie Monte

Congresswoman Maxine Waters demanded a federal investigation of the L.A. County Office of Education on Tuesday, saying the office strong-armed the CEO of Kedren Head Start to give up its contract and close about 30 centers.

Kedren serves roughly 2,200 children at Head Start facilities located in South Los Angeles communities including Watts.

Waters told families and press gathered outside the Board of Education meeting in Downey that LACOE forced the President of Kedren, John Griffith, to make a decision in less than two hours.

“What they do is intimate the directors of these delegate agencies,” said Waters. “They tell them if they don’t give up their contract, that somehow it’s going to be even worse off for the program.”

See also on Intersections: Children’s Institute to take over Kedren Head Start centers in South LA 

[Read more…]

OPINION: Brother’s Keepers & #WhiteMenMarching while LAUSD makes school tougher



Obama may aim to help young men of color through his “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative. Meanwhile, here in Los Angeles the school district is raising its high school graduation standards — and will need to make a concerted effort to help its most disadvantaged students.

Young Men of Color forum | Sikivu Hutchinson

Men of Color College Forum at Gardena High School | Sikivu Hutchinson

According to GOP Congressman Paul Ryan, an insidious “inner city culture” has prevented “generations” of “inner city” men from seeking jobs. Evoking the ghost of the GOP past, present and future, shiftless lazy black men with no work ethic are to blame for the high rates of unemployment in the U.S.’ ghettoes. Ryan’s comments were no doubt a desperate attempt to stay relevant and on message after not receiving an invitation to be grand dragon (marshal) of the “nationwide” White Man March.

A few weeks before Ryan trotted out his Black Pathology 101 thesis, President Obama announced that the administration would spearhead a “Brother’s Keeper” initiative to address the dire socioeconomic conditions confronting young men of color. A central focus of the initiative is improving college-going rates for African American and Latino young men, who lag behind women of color in college admissions. Another is reducing Black and Latino mass incarceration.

See also on Intersections: Obama announces My Brother’s Keeper for young men of color

[Read more…]

What’s going on with the principal at Maya Angelou High School in South LA?



Protest outside Maya Angelou High School. | Stephanie Monte

Principal Yolanda Rangel was taken away from Maya Angelou Community High School in South L.A. on March 6. But what happened to her? At this point, teachers, students and parents have more questions than answers — and they are rallying to bring Rangel back. The L.A. Unified School District said her position is under review, but cannot divulge any details except to say she has not been fired or removed.

Rangel began at Maya Angelou six months ago, and cultivated a reputation for bringing order to campus, and bolstering tutoring, health and fine arts programs.

To hear from students and teachers who want Rangel to come back, click play on an audio story from Annenberg Radio News:

Maya Angelou Community High School | www.mayaangeloucommunityhighschool.com

 

Maya Angelou High School:

New SAT still tough for minority and low-income students



SATThe SAT is getting another makeover and the College Board touts the test will be easier and more accessible to all students.

Unveiled last week, the standardized test will now contain more “relevant” vocabulary words, fewer math topics, an optional essay and an “evidence-based” reading and writing section. The Collage Board also promised that this test will give more minority and low-income students access to free online test prep resources and fee waivers.

But going back to a 1600-point scale, making an essay optional and offering more online classes won’t solve the access problems many of these students face when trying to take the test, some experts argue.

Click to hear their perspectives in an audio piece from Annenberg Radio News:

[Read more…]

First person: Why I should get in-state tuition as an undocumented student



Obama offered me protection from deportation and the chance to get a job — But what about my education?

My Graduation

Miguel pictured with family at his high school graduation in June 2012

I am told I crossed the border to the United States when I was 2 years old, sitting in the back of a car. But my earliest memories are of South Los Angeles — of my parents staying up until midnight and then waking up every weekday and on Saturdays at 3:00 a.m. to check on the tamales and boil water mixed with maizena, blocks of chocolate and cinnamon, for champurrado, a traditional Mexican corn-based drink. My dad would load his yellow vendor tricycle with a huge olla , or pot, of tamales, utensils, and the freshly made champurrado. My mom would fill a grocery cart with the prepared foods, which she would push as she walked my sister and me to elementary school.

That changed the fall of my senior year in high school. My parents told me they were moving because they feared for their lives. They had reported to the police that a gang member was extorting money from them. When the gang member found out, he threatened to kill them. My parents wanted me to move with them, but I chose to stay to finish high school because I believed there were more opportunities for me in California as an undocumented student. The day before I sat for the SAT, I said goodbye to my younger siblings and my parents.  My father started to cry when I hugged him; I think that was the first time I saw him cry — and it made me cry. I then entered my house alone and lay on my bed until I fell asleep. [Read more…]

OPINION: English-speaking only students have “dreams” too



By Jasmyne A. Cannick

Bookshelf at Chuco's Justice Center in South L.A. | Stephanie Monte

Bookshelf at Chuco’s Justice Center in South L.A. | Stephanie Monte

Unless state lawmakers put forth the same effort into teaching public school students Spanish that they’ve put into English as a Second Language (ESL) for Latino students, with or without a high school diploma or college degree, black and white students will find themselves locked out of the job market for generations to come.

I am 35, educated, and like millions of other native Californians, I don’t speak Spanish. Yes, I took the mandatory state minimum one course of a foreign language to graduate from high school.  I even upped the ante and took an additional year of Spanish to be eligible for admission into the California State University system. Had I known at 16-years-old that Spanish was going to become the dominant language in California, I might have stayed the course and become fluent.And that’s the story for millions of adults my age and older who now find themselves highly educated and skilled but locked out of the job market in California simply based on their inability to speak Spanish.  English-speaking-only Californians are unable to qualify for the “may I take your order please?” jobs to positions as dental assistants, human resources directors, officer managers, administrative assistants, medical billers, warehouse workers, and, ironically, even for positions with labor unions or other non-profit organizations whose mission is to help the underserved in urban communities.

Now before you fire off an email to me accusing me of being anti-Latino, take a chill pill.

This isn’t a knock on the Spanish language or even the number of Latinos in California — legally or illegally — who have made Spanish seemingly the state language.  This is about calling upon state lawmakers to level the playing field for students in California’s public school system who don’t speak Spanish now so that they don’t find themselves in the same position as their parents in the future—unemployable not because of a criminal background or even lack of an education—but because of their inability to converse, write, and read in Spanish.  What I liken to as the new face of employment discrimination, Spanish speakers wanted only.

The fact is, if algebra, geometry, and biology weren’t courses that I had to take in high school to receive a diploma and matriculate into college, I wouldn’t have taken them.  The same can probably be said for many adults looking back on their high school years. So one course of a foreign language, visual or performing art, or trade as the state mandated minimum requirement to receive a high school diploma is not preparing future generations for the local job market—let alone the global job market.

Learning how to operate an iPad isn’t going to narrow the gap between the unemployed and employed in California now or in the future unless that iPad comes with Rosetta Stone®.  Requiring foreign language classes for non-Spanish speaking students beginning in kindergarten through grade 12 will narrow that gap. Be it Spanish, Korean, Chinese, American Sign Language, or some other language—if non-Spanish speaking students in our public school systems are going to have a real chance at the American dream, ironically, it starts with learning a language other than English.

Lawmakers saw the writing on the wall and adjusted policy and social programs accordingly.  It’s time our public schools did the same—because English speaking only students have dreams too.

Previously a press secretary in the House of Representatives, Jasmyne A. Cannick is a native of Los Angeles and writes about the intersection of race, class, and politics.  She was chosen as one of Essence Magazine’s 25 Women Shaping the World and can be found online at jasmyneonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @jasmyne and on Facebook at /jasmyne.

South L.A.’s Martin Luther King Jr. park scores new sports field



MLK Jr. Elementary 5th grade class with community leaders.

Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary 5th grade class with community leaders. | Stephanie Monte

A class of fifth graders from Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in South L.A. excitedly rushed to score goals at the school’s new sports field on Thursday, just next door at the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center.

Councilmember Bernard Parks and representatives from the Department of Recreation and Public Works were on hand to announce the completion of a project that they say will provide a safe place for kids to play and exercise.

To hear comments from Parks and others, click play on an audio story from Annenberg Radio News:

The bright green synthetic grass field measures 80 by 130 feet and is surrounded by fencing and two sets of bleachers. The construction cost about $650,000 from a special project fund. [Read more…]

LA leaders push for free Wi-Fi citywide



Photographer brings everything he needs to work online at the local coffee shop.

The Los Angeles City Council is considering a plan to provide free wireless Internet for all of Los Angeles, a move that would make the city the nation’s largest with free, universal access.

Some South L.A. residents say they aren’t sure if they agree with expanding the city’s hotspot. Still, the need is apparent.

Destiny Walker, 21, rides her bike about twelve blocks to the nearest Starbucks on Slauson and Western Avenues to get online.

“If I could just be wherever I want with free Wi-Fi, I’m going to be, like, everywhere,” she said. [Read more…]

NAACP trains Black church leaders about health equity



1.1 million people in the US are diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.

1.1 million people in the US are diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.

African-Americans comprise about half of all HIV-positive people in the United States. The NAACP is promoting education that might help halt the trend. It held a forum on Thursday in Manhattan Beach on HIV, health equity, and the black church.

The event, part of NAACP’s California Hawaii State Conference, drew an array of people, including Black pastors from South L.A. “We’ve been in this losing streak for a long time,” one said.

A long-time health care worker from Inglewood also attended. “Everyone thought this was a gay, white disease,” she said. “And I said no, that’s not true.”

Hear more voices from the event in a story from Annenberg Radio News:

 

HIV Statistics among Black women

HIV Statistics among Black women