Crenshaw The Film crenshawfilm/the-film/ Known nationally for its arts and athletics programs, Crenshaw High School has been a mainstay of Los Angeles’ black community for nearly 50 years. But over the past decade, Crenshaw has suffered from under-funding, a diminishing student body, and a period of chronic mis-management in which no principal has served for more than two years. During the 2010-11 academic year, USC Education Professor Sylvia Rousseau served as Crenshaw’s interim principal. During her tenure, Rousseau worked with Crenshaw teachers to begin the implementation of the Extended Learning Cultural Model. Supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation, the model was designed to introduce personalized and theme-based instruction through small learning communities at the school. Instruction and curriculum were based around cultural relevance, college prep, an extended school day, internships and leadership exercises, and services and behavioral support for all students. During its brief run, the model created test score gains and enhanced student and parental engagement. In addition to the Extended Learning Cultural Model, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) claims to have implemented a partnership with the Urban League’s Greater Crenshaw Education Partnerships (GCEP), whereby GCEP was responsible for operating Crenshaw over the last five years. However, Lewis King, the chairman of GCEP’s board of directors claimed, “GCEP has never had control. We never had the authority to do anything except hold meetings and raise money for the school. Unlike the other partnerships schools, Crenshaw has been run by LAUSD all along and for the past three years, we have been asking for authority to initiate and operate educational programs at Crenshaw and we’ve been denied and ignored. Crenshaw has failed because of the manner in which the district operated the school and despite our efforts to help” (Pleasant, 1-2). In October 2012, LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy moved to fire and replace Crenshaw’s existing staff and convert the school into three smaller magnet schools, a process known as reconstitution. In January, the LAUSD school board approved the move and the reconstitution process progressed. The decision was billed as an attempt to improve students’ academic performance, however, the district neglected several key measures legally required to proceed with school reconstitution. The Federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Section 116 (B), clearly states that when a District decides to restructure a school, it must provide “prompt notice to teachers and parents” and that such notice must be given “in a language the parents can understand.” Many parents at Crenshaw never received notice of Deasy’s plans and were left out of the negotiation discussions since then. Furthermore, 30% of Crenshaw’s student population comes from homes where Spanish is the primary language, and LAUSD’s original letter was distributed exclusively in English. The same section of the ESEA states that when a District restructures a school, it must “provide teachers and parents with an adequate opportunity to participate in developing any plan.” Despite the promises offered in Deasy’s October 2012 letter, this was not the case. Soon after the decision was made, there was a persistent effort by the Crenshaw community to fight the reconstitution. Meeting weekly, parents, teachers, students, and community members pushed to be part of the turn-around process, trying to monitor the district’s decision making and be included in the process as much as possible. However, they came up empty. In April of 2013, 33 out of the 70 teachers at Crenshaw were fired. 27 of those teachers were people of color with more than 12 years of experience, 21 were African-American. 8 out of the 9 Special Education teachers were fired. In a report conducted by the National Education Association (NEA), reconstitution has been defined as an education reform strategy to turn around chronically low-performing schools. It seeks to enhance the stock of human capital in schools by replacing (or threatening to replace) large percentages of a school’s administrators, teachers, and support staff, with individuals who are presumably more capable and committed. In recent years, all but two public high schools in South Los Angeles have been reconstituted and converted to either charter or magnet schools, both of which require students to apply for admission. In a recent report, Tina Trujillo of UC Berkeley explains that reconstitution “destabilizes schools organizationally…undermines the climate for students and teachers…increases racial and socioeconomic segregation…does not improve the quality of new hires…and it actually breeds more problems” (Cuban, 1). Reconstitution, within these parameters, has become a euphemism. While the definition of the word may elicit implications of a restructuring of elements that already exist, in the case of Crenshaw and in the case of many other ‘failing’ inner-city, public schools, reconstitution is actually a dismantling of the current structure into something totally new, for better or for worse. The struggle over Crenshaw’s future became a symbol of the broader fight between ‘education reform’ and educational justice underway around the country, where in urban districts across the country, such as Chicago, Philadelphia, and Detroit, school closures have been morphed into a national politically charged campaign (Sanchez, NPR). It has been a wave consistent in the Obama administration, where the education agenda has been to shut down failing schools and promote the expansion of publicly funded, privately run charter schools (Sanchez, NPR). In the face of a hostile policy environment and a narrative in the national media that is broadly supportive of a narrow vision of education reform, embodied by school choice, standards-based curricula, high-stakes testing, attacks on teachers’ unions, and top-down management, Crenshaw gives much-needed exposure to reform’s negative consequences on marginalized communities of color. Crenshaw focuses on the struggles of the community involved in the fight to save Crenshaw and the students who were there during that tense, chaotic time. What are the consequences of school closure? How does it affect their daily life? How does it affect their education? How does this echo what’s going on in the greater American education landscape, in terms of race, class, and democracy? CRENSHAW Press Kit Synopsis Known nationally for its arts and athletics programs, Crenshaw High School has been a mainstay of Los Angeles’ black community for nearly 50 years. But over the past decade, Crenshaw has suffered from under-funding, a diminishing student body, and a period of chronic mis-management in which no principal has served for more than two years. During the 2010-11 academic year, USC Education Professor Sylvia Rousseau served as Crenshaw’s interim principal. During her tenure, Rousseau worked with Crenshaw teachers to begin the implementation of the Extended Learning Cultural Model. Supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation, the model was designed to introduce personalized and theme- based instruction through small learning communities at the school. Instruction and curriculum were based around cultural relevance, college prep, an extended school day, internships and leadership exercises, and services and behavioral support for all students. During its brief run, the model created test score gains and enhanced student and parental engagement. In addition to the Extended Learning Model, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) claims to have implemented a partnership with the Urban League’s Greater Crenshaw Education Partnerships (GCEP), whereby GCEP was responsible for operating Crenshaw over the last five years. However, Lewis King, the chairman of GCEP’s board of directors claimed, “GCEP has never had control. We never had the authority to do anything except hold meetings and raise money for the school. Unlike the other partnerships schools, Crenshaw has been run by LAUSD all along and for the past three years, we have been asking for authority to initiate and operate educational programs at Crenshaw and we’ve been denied and ignored. Crenshaw has failed because of the manner in which the district operated the school and despite our efforts to help” (Pleasant 1-2). CRENSHAW Press Kit In October 2012, LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy moved to fire and replace Crenshaw’s existing staff and convert the school into three smaller magnet schools, a process known as reconstitution. In January, the LAUSD school board approved the move and the reconstitution process progressed. The decision was billed as an attempt to improve students’ academic performance, however, the district neglected several key measures legally required to proceed with school reconstitution. The Federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Section 116 (B), clearly states that when a District decides to restructure a school, it must provide “prompt notice to teachers and parents” and that such notice must be given “in a language the parents can understand.” Many parents at Crenshaw never received notice of Deasy’s plans and have been left out of the negotiation discussions since. Furthermore, 30% of Crenshaw’s student population comes from homes where Spanish is the primary language, and LAUSD’s original letter was distributed exclusively in English. The same section of the ESEA states that when a District restructures a school, it must “provide teachers and parents with an adequate opportunity to participate in developing any plan.” Despite the promises offered in Deasy’s October 2012 letter, this was not the case. Many parents, students, staff, community members were uninformed of public meetings regarding Crenshaw’s future reconstitution. Soon after the decision was made, there was a persistent effort by the Crenshaw community to fight the reconstitution. Meeting weekly, parents, teachers, students, and community members pushed to be part of the turn-around process, trying to monitor the district’s decision making and be included in the process as much as possible. However, they came up empty. In April of 2013, 33 out of the 70 teachers at Crenshaw were fired. 27 of those teachers were people of color with more than 12 years of experience, 21 were African-American. 8 out of the 9 Special Education teachers were fired. CRENSHAW Press Kit In a report conducted by the National Education Association (NEA), reconstitution has been defined as an education reform strategy to turn around chronically low- performing schools. It seeks to enhance the stock of human capital in schools by replacing (or threatening to replace) large percentages of a school’s administrators, teachers, and support staff, with individuals who are presumably more capable and committed. In recent years, all but two public high schools in South Los Angeles have been reconstituted and converted to either charter or magnet schools, both of which require students to apply for admission. In a recent report, Tina Trujillo of UC Berkeley explains that reconstitution “destabilizes schools organizationally...undermines the climate for students and teachers...increases racial and socioeconomic segregation...does not improve the quality of new hires...and it actually breeds more problems” (Cuban, 1). Reconstitution, within these parameters, has become a euphemism. While the definition of the word may elicit implications of a restructuring of elements that already exist, in the case of Crenshaw and in the case of many other ‘failing’ inner-city, public schools, reconstitution is actually a dismantling of the current structure into something totally new, for better or for worse. The struggle over Crenshaw’s future became a symbol of the broader fight between ‘education reform’ and educational justice underway around the country, where in urban districts across the country, such as Chicago, Philadelphia, and Detroit, school closures have been morphed into a national politically charged campaign (Sanchez, NPR). It has been a wave consistent in the Obama administration, where the education agenda has been to shut down failing schools and promote the expansion of publicly funded, privately run charter schools (Sanchez, NPR). Crenshaw A Film by Lena Jackson Main menuSkip to content • ABOUT • SCREENINGS • PRESS • CONTACT Director’s Statement In the fall of 2012, I began a graduate program at the University of California-Santa Cruz. I had just finished teaching media in an after-school program at a charter school in the MacArthur Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. My students faced the typical gamut of problems children in low-income communities face around the country: poverty, familial neglect and abuse, anger and frustration, self-esteem issues, and depression, to name a few. The majority of my students were from families who had just immigrated to the United States from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. Over the course of the year, I became shocked at how little the school did in providing services for these children. There were no English as a Second Language teachers, no Special Education teachers, no on-site nurse, no on-site psychologist, and no on-site social worker. I had several “problem” students, who could have greatly benefitted from seeing a counselor a few times a week or from having one-on-one instruction from a Special Education teacher, but none of that existed. And because of this, the most problematic students were being pushed out. The school simply said: these are students who we are not able to deal with. And yet, the school was being praised for transforming these children’s lives. The CEO of the charter network was on the Forbes top ten list of educators in the country. To me, this is one of the great hypocrisies our country is living out. I was especially shocked by two points: that the schools in South LA that had already been reconstituted were converted into either magnet or charter schools and that this only seemed to be happening in South LA. In November of 2012, I was visiting Los Angeles and a friend mentioned that both Crenshaw and Dorsey High Schools, the last two traditional high schools in South Los Angeles, were both in danger of being reconstituted. I was especially shocked by two points: that the schools in South LA that had already been reconstituted were converted into either magnet or charter schools and that this only seemed to be happening in South LA, a predominantly African-American neighborhood and the poorest area in the city of Los Angeles. Immediately, I decided that I would follow these two stories for my master’s thesis documentary. Over the next few months, Dorsey was able to win their battle against reconstitution, but Crenshaw wasn’t. I began commuting weekly to Los Angeles from Santa Cruz, reaching out to teachers, parents, community members, anyone who would talk with me. Finally, after months of going into the school, observing classes and community meetings, I began filming. Only a few days later, the Assistant Principal told me that I could no longer come to the school and was chased out by LAUSD police. The next day, I bought a Canon Vixia and a GoPro to give to some of the students I was working with. This story is not particular to Crenshaw or even Los Angeles, this is happening across the country, and I’m hoping that films like Crenshaw will help change that. By the summer, the sadness of the teachers being fired set in. The students didn’t know if they’d return to Crenshaw and the teachers were frantically looking for positions in other district schools. The school re-opened as three magnets in August of 2013. Many teachers have not found permanent placement. Many students did not return. – Lena Jackson, Director CRENSHAW Press Kit In the face of a hostile policy environment and a narrative in the national media that is broadly supportive of a narrow vision of education reform, embodied by school choice, standards-based curricula, high-stakes testing, attacks on teachers’ unions, and top-down management, Crenshaw gives much-needed exposure to reform’s negative consequences on marginalized communities of color. Crenshaw focuses on the struggles of the community involved in the fight to save Crenshaw and the students who were there during that tense, chaotic time. What are the consequences of school closure? How does it affect their daily life? How does it affect their education? How does this echo what’s going on in the greater American education landscape, in terms of race, class, and democracy? Interested in learning more about the film, screenings and how it all came together? Send an email to crenshawfilm@gmail, follow @crenshawfilm on Twitter or use the form below to send a message. Screenings Berkeley Law screening UC-Berkeley School of Law Location TBD October 20th, 12pm Brown Bag Seminar Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education Barnum Center, 505 Lasuen Mall / Stanford, CA 94305 October 16th, 12pm Education Law Society screening UCLA School of Law 385 Charles E. Young Drive East, 1242 Law Building / Los Angeles, CA 90095 Room 1430 October 15th, 5:30-7:30pm San Fernando Valley screening Pacoima Middle School Auditorium 9919 Laurel Canyon Blvd, Pacoima, CA 91331 October 14th, 7pm Angeles Mesa Public Library 2700 W 52nd St. Los Angeles, CA 90043 Oct. 9th, 6-7:30pm Echo Park Film Center’s film-mobile Week-long screening blitz: Oct. 6th, STEM Academy Hollywood Oct. 7th, LA High Oct. 8th, Augustus Hawkins High School Oct. 10th, Dorsey High School United Teachers Los Angeles 3303 Wilshire Blvd., 2nd floor auditorium Los Angeles, CA 90010 August 26th, 5-7pm Special Los Angeles screening Southern California Library 6120 S. Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90044 July 10, 2014 at 6:30pm Refreshments provided, RSVP to crenshawfilm@gmail UC-Santa Cruz Thesis Documentary Screening Del Mar Theatre June 11, 2014 at 6pm
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 23:39:09 +0000