All Los Angeles Unified students will be prepared for state universities by 2023, proclaims the school board.
“Through unanimous approval of the Realizing the Promise for All: Close the Gap by 2023 resolution, the board members ‘publicly commit” to students — including English learners, special education students, foster youth, and those living in poverty — to provide the support they need to graduate eligible to apply to a state four-year university,” reports Esmeralda Fabián Romero at LA School Report.
Each year, the district will report the percentage of students who graduated meeting state standards and the percentage who earned C’s or better in the A-G college-prep courses that qualify them for state universities.
“Last year, 80 percent of the senior class graduated, but only 56 percent passed all their A-G classes with a C or better,” notes Fabián Romero. Not surprisingly, most disadvantaged and special-ed students were not eligible for state universities.
The goal is supposed to be “aspirational.” Another word would be “impossible.” No amount of grade inflation could get every student to pass college-prep courses with a C or better.
Another word is “unwise.” Los Angeles Unified should offer pathways. Some students will choose to prepare to pursue a university degree. Others might prefer to prep for apprenticeships, job-training programs or community college classes leading to a credential or two-year degree.
Meanwhile, “the rising cost of pensions, administrative bloat and inability to compete with charter schools for students has led LA Unified to fiscal insolvency,” concludes a report by the Reason Foundation.
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