When Kids Can’t Attend the Great School Just Across the Street: We Must Break Down the Invisible Walls
In Los Angeles, a significant change occurred in the education system on May 17th. Voters in two school board districts elected two young progressive educators, who are either current or former teachers, to serve as new school board members. The message they ran on was simple: prioritize the interests of students over the entrenched education bureaucracy.
As every state in the country works on closing opportunity gaps for underserved communities, this election serves as a reminder that voters are paying attention. The lack of federal oversight should not be an excuse for weak plans and timelines.
It is clear that the voters in Los Angeles want the interests of children to come first, but it is uncertain if our representatives in the state legislature in Sacramento are listening.
Last week, families from the Parent Revolution’s Parent Power Network traveled to Sacramento to advocate for Assembly Bill 1482. This bill aimed to make it easier for underserved families to transfer between school districts. Currently, parents must obtain permission from the school district they are zoned in to transfer to another district. This creates a flawed system where a school district can fail to provide a quality education and then deny the option to transfer. AB 1482 sought to remove the ability of home districts to deny transfers for low-income students, English learners, and foster youth.
During the testimony for AB 1482, Keshara, a mother and member of the Parent Power Network, shared a powerful personal story with the Assembly Education Committee. She described her struggles with homelessness and how she now supports other parents through her job. Keshara revealed that she had moved to Torrance with the hopes of enrolling her son in a good school. Unfortunately, despite living in Torrance, she lived just one block away from the boundary that separated the Torrance Unified School District from the Los Angeles Unified School District. As a result, her son was assigned to a low-performing school without adequate after-school programs, which made it difficult for Keshara to balance her own education and work schedules. Additionally, she had safety concerns for her child in that area. Despite her efforts, Los Angeles Unified School District denied her permit to transfer, denying her son the opportunity to attend a quality school just across the street due to an invisible boundary.
Dr. Shirley Weber, a leading Democrat on the Education Committee, stood alongside Keshara and expressed her support for the bill. She highlighted the importance of ensuring every child receives the education they deserve. Despite bipartisan support, the bill failed by one vote, with Assemblymember Tony Thurmond being the deciding vote. He questioned the impact on districts as the core argument against the bill.
One would expect Assemblymember Thurmond, whose district includes schools ranking in the bottom 5 percent of the state, to be an advocate for better options within the public school system. However, it is evident that Sacramento politicians prioritize protecting the existing system over providing families with the opportunity to access quality education.
Sacramento made a positive move with the implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula. However, there is a lack of oversight to ensure transparency in how funds are utilized to close opportunity gaps and benefit students.
Additionally, Sacramento started developing a new school rating system that considers multiple aspects of school performance. However, it took four years to produce a complex "School Dashboard" that is more useful for bureaucrats than families seeking to evaluate the quality of schools.
Dedicated parents like Keshara are persistently advocating for a high-quality education for their own kids and every child in their community. They are determined to see immediate progress, as the education of their children cannot be delayed. The recent election results clearly reflect the support of the voters, who share the same desire to prioritize and accelerate improvements in our schools for the betterment of our youth.
This is a critical moment for politicians across our state to make a choice. They must decide whether they truly believe in the power of parents or if they will continue to prioritize and strengthen a bureaucratic system that has not yet demonstrated its ability to effectively serve all children.
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