Pasadena School Report Calls for Radical Change

Imagine a math and science high school with lab classes conducted by staff from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Or a high school of the arts with access to the stages of the Pasadena Playhouse and the exhibits of the Huntington Library.

These and other innovative ideas are included in a new report set for release today that calls for a radical restructuring of the Pasadena public school system, which has been struggling with administrative and financial woes, falling enrollment and demographic flux.

The report suggests partnering with community institutions such as Caltech, the Norton Simon Museum and Huntington Hospital to create a system of magnet schools that would offer the three Rs but also specialize in distinctive subject areas such as health sciences, languages or college preparation.

Richard D. Kahlenberg, the report’s author, said the goal is to achieve a greater socioeconomic mix in the public schools by offering unique educational settings to attract middle-income families who have largely abandoned public campuses in favor of private schools.

It is a controversial objective among those in the community who prefer to use resources to serve the poor rather than to lure the rich. But Kahlenberg cites national, state and local data showing that schools with a diverse, mixed-income student body benefit everyone.

“Trying to make separate school systems for the rich and poor doesn’t work, and it never has,” said Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, a nonpartisan social and political research group.

“In Pasadena, there is a mismatch between the strength of the community and the condition of the public schools,” he said. “The city has all these incredible nationally known institutions like Caltech, the JPL, art centers. If some of the leaders in the community really commit to creating a system of magnet schools as strong as the community as a whole, then we will see amazing things happen.”

The report, “One Pasadena: Tapping the Community’s Resources to Strengthen the Public Schools,” was commissioned by the nonprofit Pasadena Educational Foundation, which supports educational programs in the Pasadena Unified School District. Kahlenberg will formally present the report to community groups and city officials next week.

Community reaction has been mostly positive, with some reservations.

“This is just a starting place,” said the nonprofit group’s president, Robert Harrison, a restaurant owner whose five children have all attended Pasadena public schools. “There will be parts some will agree with, others not. We wanted it to be a catalyst for real dialogue about the future of schools.”

Carolyn Ota, president of the districtwide PTA, said she found the ideas “interesting and exciting.”

“It’s pretty right on about our history, where we are and where we should be going,” she said.

Some community leaders reacted more cautiously. Housing costs have forced many middle-class families out of Pasadena, so school reform alone may not bring them back, said Roberta H. Martinez, president of the Latino Heritage Assn.

And if you take money from the budget to establish a magnet system, she asked, what is the cost for the other students?

“I have real reservations that this would work unless there’s a real recognition of what equity means,” Martinez said.

The report comes at a time of turmoil for the district, which has closed four elementary schools and pared more than $20 million from its budget in recent years. Amid accusations of low morale, failed leadership and a no-confidence vote by the teachers union, the Board of Education recently voted to replace Supt. Percy Clark Jr.

But there have also been positive trends, including rising test scores and an increase in middle-class enrollment, said Christopher Brandow, executive director of the Pasadena Education Network, which encourages parents to enroll their children in the district’s schools. Brandow estimates that, in part because of his group’s efforts, 50 to 75 families who would have considered private schools enrolled children in the public system.

The Kahlenberg report offers the prospect of a world-class educational system in a city renowned for the Rose Parade, distinctive residential architecture and a bent for technology. A science-oriented high school, for example, might draw mentors from Caltech. A college academy might align with Pasadena City College to allow high school students to take college courses. A dual-language immersion school would have a mixed English- and Spanish-speaking student body.

Families would be required to choose a magnet school for elementary, middle and high school. Applicants would be admitted by lottery with priority given to those who live close by, have siblings at the school or could enhance economic diversity. Schools would likely have a good ethnic and racial mix. The district would provide free transportation.

Kahlenberg estimates that extra costs for a magnet system would average about $200 more per pupil. The Pasadena system’s modest size -- with 32 schools scattered over about 34 miles, including the cities of Altadena and Sierra Madre -- would seem to be ideal for such a plan, the report said.

But the report also highlights the grim reality of the current Pasadena educational picture: a dual system composed of the struggling public campuses with about 22,000 mostly low-income Latino and African American students, contrasting with 57 private schools attended by more than 10,000 students -- 32% of the children in the district. By comparison, about 8.5 % of California students are in private schools and 9.7% nationwide.

The district’s white flight and socioeconomic division accelerated in 1970, when the Pasadena system was found guilty by a federal court of racial segregation and ordered to bus students.

More recently, the district has tried to attract middle-class families with an open enrollment policy that gives parents a choice of schools. Officials also opened some themed schools, including a few with International Baccalaureate programs. But critics say some of the programs have been poorly implemented.

“It’s going to take the commitment of the entire community to bring about these kinds of changes and collaborations,” school board member Ed Honowitz said. “We’re not going to find some magic bullet, but certainly we have the ability to offer children in Pasadena a quality education.”