Board Urges Plan to Help Black Students Achieve

Acknowledging a chronic gap in the achievement of black students, the Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday endorsed a broad initiative to decrease the disparity.

On a 6-1 vote, the board approved an emergency resolution directing Supt. Roy Romer to return in 90 days with a plan and timetable.

The plan, to be implemented in the 2002-03 school year, would address the unequal allocation of staff and other resources in predominantly black schools and “culturally relevant” instruction for black students.

Pressing her case with an emotional argument, board President Genethia Hayes related the poor performance of blacks on standardized tests to the 1979 court decision ordering the district to integrate its schools.

“If we believe that African American children are just as intellectually curious and intellectually capable of achieving, we need to decide what the strategy is for those youngsters to begin to show an achievement gain,” she said.

About 200 representatives of African American churches and social service groups filled the board meeting room to support the resolution.

“What I like most about this resolution is that it is not accusatory,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas. According to district records, African American students perform poorly compared with the district as a whole, but they score better than Latinos on standardized tests.

Several board members showed discomfort in singling out a race for special attention and protested that they thought the item should have been aired in a committee before the board vote. Board member Victoria Castro dissented.

But Romer said he saw no problem.

“As a father of seven, if I have one that needs more attention than the others, I give that attention,” Romer said. “That doesn’t mean I neglect the others.”

In an interview after the meeting, Hayes acknowledged that the plan would have to be vetted for conformance with Proposition 209, the statewide initiative that ended affirmative action.

She said, however, that she saw no conflict.

In other action, the board ratified a $195,000 severance settlement for former Chief Operating Officer Allen Solomon, who resigned after only two months on the job. Board member Julie Korenstein dissented in the 6-1 vote.