Two L.A. high schools gain more autonomy
Jan 30, 2008 1:41 PM
Parents and teachers at Crenshaw and also at Westchester high
schools in Los Angeles have voted their schools into the new Innovation
Division of the school district. Plans call for the district bureaucracy to cede
far-reaching control over budget and curriculum to each school's leadership team
of administrators, teachers, parents, older students and community members. For
each school, the elections signify a watershed moment. Crenshaw had been a
successful school for African Americans, but today its woes echo the struggles
of the surrounding community. Westchester hasn't slipped as far, but there has
long been a sense of alienation between the school--abandoned by most of the
middle class--and nearby neighborhoods. Both schools have sharply declining
enrollments.
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Los Angeles Times article.
