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Leaders Demand State Assembly Address Black Student Underperformance

In California, funding for local educational agencies (called L-E-As for short by state government insiders) is determined by the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), which was first implemented in 2013.

Published

2 years ago

April 25, 2022

Oakland Post

There are nearly 310,000 Black students enrolled in California’s public schools.

By Tanu Henry, California Black Media

A coalition of California educators, civil rights groups, religious leaders, parents, students and other concerned citizens are calling on elected officials in Sacramento to do something about the continuing underperformance of Black students on California state standardized tests.

“We are in California, the Golden State, where Democrats hold a supermajority in the Legislature and where the governor is a Democrat. People that call themselves progressive have the authority and license to rectify the wrongs that have been served to African American Californians for generations,” said Dr. Margaret Fortune, an education advocate and founder of a network of seven charter schools in Sacramento and San Bernardino that focuses on closing the African American achievement gap and preparing students for college.

Fortune was speaking at a rally that the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Action Network (NAN) held last week at the L.A. County office of Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell (D-Long Beach), who is chair of the Assembly Education Committee.

In the hall outside of O’Donnell’s office, Fortune was standing with other advocates, activists, elected officials and students, carrying placards, and punctuating speeches the group’s leaders made with chants of “no justice, no peace.”

The demonstrators were calling on O’Donnell to schedule an Assembly Education Committee on Assembly Bill (AB) 2774. The legislation would provide additional funding aimed at improving the scores of the lowest performing subgroup of students on the state’s assessment tests, according to the bill’s language.

Assemblymember Akilah Weber (D-San Diego) introduced AB 2774 in February. The bill is co-authored by Assemblymember Chris Holden (D-Pasadena), chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Both Weber and Holden are members of the California Legislative Black Caucus.

Referring to funding requirements included in AB 2774, Fortune said, “this would generate an additional $400 million a year in perpetuity for the schools that serve Black students – because Black students are the lowest performing subgroup.”

Only 18 % of Black students in California pass math on statewide standardized tests and only 23% meet the English Language Arts requirement, according to data compiled by the California Department of Education (CDE).

There are nearly 310,000 Black students enrolled in California’s public schools.

“Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell’s continued denial of a hearing for AB 2774 is intentional,” said Christina Laster, NAN Western Regional Education advisor and liaison. “It is yet another way the State of California and many of its elected representatives use their authority to hold back and manipulate the resources and conditions that would help our children overcome the racialized cumulative disadvantages in their K-12 Education.”

“We are opposed to such tactics and urge O’Donnell and the State of California to firmly establish their investment into the lowest performing subgroup of students statewide,” Laster added.

The LCFF is based on a three-tiered structure. The first provides general funding to all education agencies. The second directs supplemental funding to agencies that meet specified criteria. The third approves concentrated funding, “which is generally required based on persistent performance issues over a specified period of time,” according to the CDE.

Approximately, 80,000 Black students in the state do not receive any additional funding under the LCFF, according to data compiled by the CDE.

Among the demonstrators at the Long Beach rally were Dr. Tecoy Porter, who serves as California state president of NAN and the organization’s Sacramento chapter president. The Rev. Jonathan E.D. Moseley, interim president of NAN’s L.A. County chapter, also attended the rally and spoke.

“We are going to come back if we don’t hear from O’Donnell in the next five to 10 days,” said Moseley.

“We will be back because our children’s education and future are at stake,” he ended.

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Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

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6 days ago

April 26, 2024

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Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024

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2 weeks ago

April 19, 2024

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Oakland Schools Honor Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties

Every Jan. 30, OUSD commemorates the legacy of Fred Korematsu, an Oakland native, a Castlemont High School graduate, and a national symbol of resistance, resilience, and justice. His defiant stand against racial injustice and his unwavering commitment to civil rights continue to inspire the local community and the nation. Tuesday was “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution” in the state of California and a growing number of states across the country.

Published

2 weeks ago

April 19, 2024

Oakland Post

Fred Korematsu. Courtesy of OUSD.

By Post Staff

Every Jan. 30, OUSD commemorates the legacy of Fred Korematsu, an Oakland native, a Castlemont High School graduate, and a national symbol of resistance, resilience, and justice.

His defiant stand against racial injustice and his unwavering commitment to civil rights continue to inspire the local community and the nation. Tuesday was “Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution” in the state of California and a growing number of states across the country.
One OUSD school is named in his honor: Fred T. Korematsu Discovery Academy (KDA) elementary in East Oakland.

Several years ago, founding KDA Principal Charles Wilson, in a video interview with anti-hate organization “Not In Our Town,” said, “We chose the name Fred Korematsu because we really felt like the attributes that he showed in his work are things that the children need to learn … that common people can stand up and make differences in a large number of people’s lives.”

Fred Korematsu was born in Oakland on Jan. 30, 1919. His parents ran a floral nursery business, and his upbringing in Oakland shaped his worldview. His belief in the importance of standing up for your rights and the rights of others, regardless of race or background, was the foundation for his activism against racial prejudice and for the rights of Japanese Americans during World War II.

At the start of the war, Korematsu was turned away from enlisting in the National Guard and the Coast Guard because of his race. He trained as a welder, working at the docks in Oakland, but was fired after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Fear and prejudice led to federal Executive Order 9066, which forced more than 120,000 Japanese Americans out of their homes and neighborhoods and into remote internment camps.

The 23-year-old Korematsu resisted the order. He underwent cosmetic surgery and assumed a false identity, choosing freedom over unjust imprisonment. His later arrest and conviction sparked a legal battle that would challenge the foundation of civil liberties in America.

Korematsu’s fight culminated in the Supreme Court’s initial ruling against him in 1944. He spent years in a Utah internment camp with his family, followed by time living in Salt Lake City where he was dogged by racism.

In 1976, President Gerald Ford overturned Executive Order 9066. Seven years later, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco vacated Korematsu’s conviction. He said in court, “I would like to see the government admit that they were wrong and do something about it so this will never happen again to any American citizen of any race, creed, or color.”

Korematsu’s dedication and determination established him as a national icon of civil rights and social justice. He advocated for justice with Rosa Parks. In 1998, President Bill Clinton gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom saying, “In the long history of our country’s constant search for justice, some names of ordinary citizens stand for millions of souls … To that distinguished list, today we add the name of Fred Korematsu.”

After Sept. 11, 2001, Korematsu spoke out against hatred and discrimination, saying what happened to Japanese Americans should not happen to people of Middle Eastern descent.
Korematsu’s roots in Oakland and his education in OUSD are a source of great pride for the city, according to the school district. His most famous quote, which is on the Korematsu elementary school mural, is as relevant now as ever, “If you have the feeling that something is wrong, don’t be afraid to speak up.”