LAUSD Renews $120 Million Black Student Program After Activists Complaint – The 74

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Los Angeles Unified has revised its pioneering efforts to boost academic outcomes for Black students after Virginia-based conservative activists filed a civil rights complaint alleging the program used race as an admissions criterion.

The value of the region is 120 million dollars Black Student Success Plan It had a clear goal: to raise the academic performance of Black students who lag behind other groups on reading and math assessments, to provide students with extra teachers and to provide additional training for their teachers.

Arlington-based program now in doubt Parents Advocating Education filed a civil rights complaint, arguing that it violated federal law by using race “solely” as an admissions criterion, leading the district to change its policy.

“In fact, the Black Student Success Plan and its benefits are available to some students but not others; and this exclusion is based solely on the individual’s race,” the group said. complaint in question.

In response, LAUSD said it no longer uses race as a factor when choosing which schools to participate. But the future of the program remains uncertain despite the changes, as it may still be vulnerable to future legal challenges.

Still, it’s a dramatic development for LAUSD’s signature Black initiative and demonstrates the powerful influence out-of-town interests can have on local politics.

LASUD officials said the district will continue to give BSAP the same resources as in previous years and its programs will remain the same; and all students, not just Black students, are eligible for aid.

The five-year-old BSAP appeared to be on its way to success by targeting Black children.

With broad support from the L.A. Unified board, teachers and parents, the program deployed counselors and social workers to nearly 50 schools, enrolling nearly one-third of the district’s Black students.

And this year, Black students in the district made gains in: math and reading tests this surpassed that of other student groups. Black students in the district outperformed Black students in the state in annual exams this year again.

Since PDE filed its complaint, superintendent Alberto Carvalho said LA Unified has been able to “reshape the program without compromising impact.”

“Our solution is one that keeps funding, attention and resources focused on the same students and the same schools,” he said. in an interview With the Los Angeles Times.

Representatives PDEThe school, which has filed more civil rights complaints against at least ten other school districts across the country, did not respond to requests for comment.

A website for the nonprofit says it is “a national grassroots organization working to take back our schools from activists who support harmful agendas,” including critical race theory and restorative justice.

PDE’s board of directors includes: Edward BlumConservative plaintiff who has previously founded an organization 2023 Supreme Court decision Harvard University’s decision to repeal affirmative action in college admissions.

Inside his complaint PDE, along with the Federal Civil Rights Administration, argued that BSAP violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by using race to decide which students would receive extra educational services.

After LA Unified dropped racing as an official factor in those decisions, OCR dismissed the group’s complaint, sparking a potential legal fight. However, PDE may rekindle the complaint.

The region’s strategy caught fire teachers union, activists And students protesting Board meeting on October 22. Online letter writing offer It calls on LA Unified to “reinstate the Black student population as a criterion for BSAP school allocation.”

Without a race to determine which schools will participate in the BSAP, LAUSD will need to use other factors in deciding how to distribute extra resources to students, University of Southern California education professor Julie Slayton said.

“They’re going to eliminate the language of ‘Black,'” Slayton said. “But that doesn’t need to profoundly change how they think about the distribution of those resources and the schools that will receive them.”

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