High School Students Protest Poor Facilities, Programs in Compton

About 40 students at Compton’s Centennial High School skipped their morning classes Wednesday as a protest against poor facilities and low academic achievement on the campus.

The walkout and subsequent rally clearly unnerved Centennial staff members, who called Compton school police to the scene.

The morning included a tense half-hour standoff in Centennial’s main courtyard before police retreated and school district administrators agreed to meet with the students after Christmas to discuss their concerns.

“We think we got their attention,” said Kortney Tatum, the senior class treasurer, who organized the rally with friend Tiffany Brown, the homecoming queen. “And we ended it peacefully.”

Tatum and Brown have become an irritant for both Centennial and the Compton school district, which has been run by the state since a 1993 takeover for financial and academic troubles.

In a complaint filed last month with the U.S. Department of Education, the two seniors alleged that Centennial’s curriculum is so weak that even good students have little chance of qualifying for top colleges. They noted that just two students in four years had earned admission to any University of California campus.

The protest began with a gathering of striking students shortly after 8 a.m. outside the front gate. Led by Tatum and Brown, the students waved at motorists on Central Avenue and held signs reading, “Honk 4 Education,” “More Restrooms Open,” and “Students Are Not Given a Challenge.”

About 9:30 a.m., the students, accompanied by school board Vice President Basil Kimbrew, walked into Centennial’s center courtyard. There, they formed a circle and began chanting, prompting several teachers and students to peek out from nearby classrooms.

Jacqueline Cochran, the district’s senior director for K-12 instruction, arrived at the scene quickly.

“I want him arrested,” Cochran said, pointing at Kimbrew. She accused him of inciting the students to protest.

“I don’t mind going to jail,” Kimbrew said. “Do what you have to do.”

But he wasn’t arrested.

Fausto Capobianco, the communications director for the state-run district, who teaches a Wednesday morning class at Centennial, waded into the circle of students for 15 minutes of negotiations.

“What do you want to accomplish?” he asked.

He got a smattering of responses. More books. More teachers. (Several instructors are routinely absent.) More extracurricular activities, such as band. The school says it lacks teachers to supervise such activities.

Miguel Sanchez, a senior, complained that the school’s Internet hookups are inadequate. Another senior, Kelly Ramirez, said the school had lost her academic records and thus jeopardized her graduation.

“We’re doing the best we can,” Capobianco said. “But change takes time.”

After the promise of a Jan. 9 meeting with Centennial’s principal and other school officials, the students marched back outside the front gate for more protesting before returning to third period classes.

They received encouragement from some teachers. Michael Montgomery, a social science teacher at Centennial High for 20 years, asked students repeatedly to “Show me your signs,” and suggested spelling and grammar corrections.

“I love it,” Montgomery said. “They’re exercising their 1st Amendment rights. I just wish the parents and the rest of the community would raise their voices like this.”