Pupils Press Demands for Prep Classes

Los Angeles schools chief Roy Romer promised a group of students six weeks ago that he would investigate an apparent dearth of college prep courses at their South Los Angeles high schools.

Meeting with the 200 picketing students outside L.A. Unified School District headquarters, Romer vowed then to return with answers by Feb. 1.

On Thursday, he missed the deadline. And the students felt betrayed.

“We’ve been getting the runaround forever,” said Justyn Christian, 18, a senior at Washington Prep High School. “The [district] never really takes us seriously.”

Romer insisted that he does take the students seriously. He said his staff compiled the data to answer their many questions but that the information has required some fine-tuning to ensure its accuracy. He said he would deliver his report to the students next week.

“We had anticipated meeting the deadline,” Romer said. “We don’t have the information they want in a form they can use.”

Romer’s point person on the case, Assistant Supt. Sylvia Rousseau, said his meeting with the students will include the two area superintendents from South Los Angeles--George J. McKenna and Renee Jackson.

In their campaign, the students allege that Los Angeles Unified offers fewer advanced courses at their schools than elsewhere in the district.

They have demanded a report that will show how many Advanced Placement and college prep courses are available at their campuses and the percentage of graduates who are eligible to attend the Cal State and UC systems.

When Romer met the students Dec. 15, he acknowledged that college prep courses are distributed unequally across district high schools.

“You’re right on,” he told the students, as they huddled around him with eager eyes.

The problem is not unique to Los Angeles Unified.

In a class-action lawsuit filed 18 months ago, the American Civil Liberties Union argued that black and Latino high school students statewide are deprived of equal access to California’s public universities because their campuses do not offer as many AP courses as schools serving predominantly white students.

As a result of the lawsuit, lawmakers in Sacramento have approved millions of dollars to increase access to AP courses in schools that lack them.

“The students are right,” said Mark Rosenbaum, the ACLU’s legal director for Southern California. “There remain gross disparities in California in opportunities for college-going curriculum.”

McKenna, one of the area superintendents, said he does not believe the problem lies in the availability of college prep courses. Instead, he said, the issue is whether students have the academic background to qualify for the high-level classes. A certain number of qualified students must be able to enroll for a class to be offered.

He said the district needs to do a better job of preparing students for the advanced course work.

“I don’t know of any students who requested classes who have been refused access,” McKenna said. “I’m not sure where the fault lies, but I’m sure where the responsibility lies--with the educators, the system. We’re responsible for making sure the access is equitable. We have to ask some students what keeps them from taking these classes.”

McKenna and other district officials said they have sought to open lines of communication with the students over the last six weeks. But the fragile relationship has been marked by misunderstanding.

McKenna and Jackson wrote the organizers from a group known as South Central Youth Empowered Through Action, asking to meet with them regularly, perhaps once a month. But the organizers, who are adults, wrote back that they could not commit to a regular schedule. In an interview, one of them said that they expect to communicate directly with Romer.

“The district viewed this as an issue to be handled by the mini-district superintendents,” said Marqueece Harris-Dawson, 29, who is helping the students to organize. “We viewed that as a cop-out. It can’t be pinned on them.”

Harris-Dawson and a fellow organizer have drawn students from seven high schools, including Jordan High in Watts, Manual Arts near USC and Crenshaw High.

McKenna and Jackson have been collecting the data for Romer’s report. McKenna said he finished gathering the information this week but had not analyzed it. Jackson could not be reached for comment.

Despite the misunderstandings, Romer, McKenna, Rousseau and others said they appreciate what the students are doing in clamoring about a recognized deficiency in the school district.

“We’ve all been concerned about this,” Rousseau said. “We want to work together to figure out the most effective solutions.”

But the students are growing impatient. They want answers now.

“How come Mr. Romer can’t just give us a simple report?” asked Marcus McKinney, 16, a junior at Manual Arts High. “If he can’t do a report, how can we trust him with our education?”