College-prep grant goes to LAUSD
L.A. Daily News 4/24/07
The money from the Bill & Melinda Gates and The James Irvine foundations will target low-income and minority students in five Los Angeles communities, including one in the San Fernando Valley.
"It will allow us to support our students, our families, our schools in the district toward setting and achieving a higher level of learning," said Veronica Melvin, executive director of the Alliance for a Better Community, a coalition of outreach groups.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who has criticized the district for a dropout rate he claims is close to 50 percent, said the money will be a vital tool in helping raise student achievement.
"Real reform starts in communities, it starts with parents and students and teachers coming together, rolling up their sleeves to make a difference," he said during a news conference at Belmont High School. "This grant is an important investment in the empowerment that's so essential to transform a school district."
In the five communities, the alliance will work to inform parents, students and teachers about the importance of the so-called A-G curriculum and how to get the resources they need to complete the college-prep course work.
Superintendent David Brewer III said the grant, along with the district's efforts to increase parental involvement and provide a tougher curriculum, will help change academic outcomes for all Los Angeles Unified School District students.
"You can tell Bill and Melinda and James Irvine we don't want to put them on the spot, but we're going to need some more money out here because we're going to really take this thing to another level," Brewer said.
"What we need to do is make sure our children are college prepared and career ready, and in order to do that we need to empower our parents."
The Gates Foundation has been hesitant in the past to award grants to Los Angeles Unified because it questioned the district's commitment to reform.
Officials said Monday they will consider future investments depending on the district's use of the new grant.
"We will continue to have these conversations with the key players down here ... and we will look for opportunities where there might be overlap," said Carol Rava Treat, spokeswoman for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Nadia Santamaria, a Belmont High senior who has been accepted to UCLA, said students can easily get lost in overcrowded schools, so they need the district's support and resources.
"With a school of 5,000 and only two college counselors, I believe that it is important that we receive all the help that we can get in the community," she said.