Two L.A. high schools gain more autonomy

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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