Long Beach : Board May Cancel Magnet Programs to Save $460,000

About 40 parents, teachers and students crowded into the Long Beach Unified School District boardroom this week, waving signs and applauding speakers who protested the possible elimination of several desegregation programs.

They were protesting a plan by administrators to save $460,000 by shutting down as many as seven magnet programs that were created to draw white students into minority neighborhoods and vice versa. The district began its magnet program to desegregate schools without forced busing. About 15,500 of the district’s 71,500 students participated last year.

Since it began 12 years ago, minority enrollment has increased to the point that some schools would be desegregated even without the students drawn by the magnet programs. Minority enrollment in Long Beach has grown from 40% to 75% over the period.

Many parents at Monday’s meeting said the special programs provide valuable educational opportunities for their children.

Board member Jenny Oropeza said such statements raise concerns, however, about the quality of Long Beach’s regular programs. “I have a very deep concern when I hear parents and students saying the children gain self-esteem through (magnet) programs,” she said. “Why isn’t it happening in every classroom?”

The board will continue discussion of the proposed program cuts at its next meeting Jan. 27.