Fiasco at all-minority L.A. high school validates Vergara argument
The immense fiasco at 100 percent minority Jefferson High School in Los Angeles underscores the findings of Judge Rolf Treu in the Vergara case that minority students are treated awfully in the L.A. Unified School District.
This is from the latest coverage this week by the Los Angeles Times:
The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday approved a $1.1-million plan to provide a longer school day, additional classes and tutoring to Jefferson High students who lost instructional time as a result of widespread scheduling problems this semester.
Officials also announced that the Los Angeles Unified School District would audit other high schools to find additional students who might have been similarly shortchanged.
An Oct. 3 piece had more details on the nightmare.
Civil rights organizations asked a judge Thursday to order the state Education Department to remedy problems at Jefferson High School in South Los Angeles, where attorneys say some students have languished for nearly eight weeks without the appropriate classes.
The Alameda County Superior Court judge is expected to make a decision Monday.
The request stems from a lawsuit brought earlier this year that alleges the state has ignored its obligation to ensure that all California students receive a minimum level of instruction. Attorneys say the state is primarily abandoning its responsibility to students who are minorities and from low-income families.
The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Public Counsel and others, contends the lack of quality learning time for these students is in violation of the state Constitution’s equal protection guarantee because the state does not ensure that all students have access to an adequate education.
Last month, hundreds of students at Jefferson walked out of class to protest the scheduling snafu and what they contended was inept management by administrators that had severely interrupted their education.
Some students have been assigned classes they do not need or have already passed, others have multiple free periods, or are given administrative tasks rather than courses with instruction, according to the lawsuit. Others are simply sent home. Some classes have up to 50 students, the lawsuit said.
Same equal-protection argument made in Vergara
The same argument that minority students were not receiving an adequate education was made in the Vergara case. Here’s the background.
When Treu wrote that the treatment of minority students “shocked the conscience,” that struck some people as a little over the top. If the Jefferson case doesn’t “shock the conscience,” I don’t know what would.
The Jefferson student body is 93 percent Hispanic and 7 percent black. It’s in a particularly impoverished area of downtown L.A. The idea that what happened at Jefferson could have happened at a middle-class LAUSD school — many students going nearly two months with little meaningful academic instruction — is ludicrous.
Even after Vergara, the people running Jefferson High didn’t think anyone would be paying attention to how they were brutalizing their students. Thankfully, this time at least, they were wrong.
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Meg sticker sighted!
I just saw the first car bumper sticker of the 2010 election season. It read “Meg 2010” and was pasted
LA is like a Lost Continent written off by young educated and mobile citizens…..
They have figured it out……no investment in LA….move on.
Although there are some lousy teachers in LAUSD that should be fired, you can’t blame all the problems in these schools on the teachers. That’s unfair. Many of the families in these school simply do not value education. Why do you think the asians excel academically, regardless which schools they attend? The asian culture values education. The parents motivate the kids to learn. That’s the reason about 40% of the enrollment in the UC system is asian. It’s not because asians are naturally intellectually superior. They just study harder. That’s all. It’s one of those truisms that many people don’t want to hear. I feel sorry for some of the teachers who are assigned to the challenged schools in K-12. They automatically get blames for poor academic performance. The parents deserve most of the blame. Not the teachers. I have spoken to good teachers who have taught in certain schools. I know. And in general I am no defender of teachers. But let’s be fair.
Oh, and it’s a myth that all the lousy teachers are assigned to the minority schools. Total BS. In my experience the teachers that teach in ‘academically challenged’ schools are paid a premium for their services. The higher pay attracts a better selection of teachers. In general, teacher quality is higher in the schools that are academically challeged. Point your fingers at the parents.
It is not a myth at all. It is widely confirmed by state education department stats that veteran teachers congregate in schools in more affluent neighborhoods, and that the least experienced teachers are pushed toward schools in poor neighborhoods.
Google “ACLU and Los Angeles Unified and lawsuit.”
You’re also simply wrong that teachers in “academically challenged” schools get premium pay. That would have to be collectively bargained, and the CTA has a long history of fighting such policies tooth and nail.
Where I’m from that’s how it was done. You had to be a cut above to teach in the academically challenged schools which also happened to be the minority schools. The teachers did collect a premium salary for teaching in those schools. So it wasn’t a myth at all. Oh, and the academically challenged schools got the best books, the best learning labs, the best gyms and the best tutoring too. It may be different at LAUSD. I don’t know. But I doubt it. They aren’t going to stick all the lousy teachers in the minority schools. I simply don’t believe that. Not in this day and age. This is 2014. Not 1948.
I don’t like the teacher’s pensions and the teacher’s unions any more than you do, Chris. But I refuse to place all the blame on the teachers for the dismal academic performance of these kids. The parents are 70% of the problem. They don’t value education or push their kids to learn. The example I gave you about the asian kids is true and you know it. They excel because their families value education. But you wouldn’t dare write a blog on that. It would blow your argument about the lousy teachers right out of the water. lol. And you know it too!
Yup, the representation at basketball, football camps, looks like the kids of the prison population. The Asian Doctors will keep the idiots on the field/courts, when Dumassus should be studying to give himself something to fall back on, instead of relying on his jump shot.
You nailed it, Desmond. But watch out. Tedtard will call you a ‘razzzist’ for speaking the truth.
Collapso— I’m on your mind 24/7
lmao! like a child calling some one a “tard” is the best you can do–does it bother you to make fun of the developmentally disabled by using the term tard? I bet it doesn’t——- whoa—-pathetic….
Once again, ‘tard’ is derived from musTARD. A bitter substance that emits a highly toxic gas. You tend to see things that aren’t there. You might bring that up at your next annual physical.
Only cyborgs volunteer for ruff ruff school teaching….
I visted a Boyle Heights school to get a teacher to sign an important document. Guards met me in the razor wired parking lot, escorted me inside to a graffiti decorated hall, pointed toward a door bell…….ah…..she opened the creaky iron door to the teacher lounge….same drill in reverse to leave.
No hello or how are you…no wave goodbye. No Michelle snack!
Whew.
watch out for the Ebola virus
Wolfman, to fight the outbreak you would think Obola would do something to protect Americans – like deploy the military to the damn borders or stop all inbound flights from Western Africa. Instead, he sends US troops to Africa!!! LOL!!! All it would take is about 10 terrorists to infect themselves with the ebola virus and then sneak across the border and go to crowded public events, like sports competitions, theaters, cafeteria, etc.. to spread their disease.
Do you think it would be difficult for a terrorist infected with ebola to sneak across the border and enter the general population? Here, watch this:
Apacalypto
Re-education camp is a possibility or outright solitary without an Ipad….consider your options….the black helicopters are airborne….
The truth scares you, doesn’t it, Uhaul. Give truth it a chance. It will set you free. 😀
I love the way the 12 year old mind of Collapso works—– he sepnt weeks thinking of Obola used for Obama!
He is so proud of his VERY clever word play! Nice job little boy!
I know the simple things impress you, tedtard. If you have a 5x3x5 cardboard box at home put some rocks in it and shake it. I bet that will keep you entertained for hours. But be careful. Don’t hurt yourself. 🙂
TedTard? Is that a not so clever play on words making fun of disabled people?
Are your parents home?
Did the folks who raised you have any class?
Or did u just not pay much attention?
LMAO