Our group studied education during 1984 – 1993. We studied education during our decade by conducting interviews, reading excerpts and articles pertaining to our time period and not pertaining to our time period, and by using GIS maps. We conducted interviews in various places because we felt that we needed to choose places where we would find interviewees that were in our time period. We conducted interviews at Garfield High School, East Los Angeles Community College, Santa Monica College, Lynwood High School, 99th Street Elementary School, Carson, and a Youth Center because our group felt that these places would have the interviewees that we were looking for. Since we were already informed about our time period from the readings about our decade, we were looking for people to talk to about the demographic shifts in Los Angeles during 1984-1993, gangs and gang violence, equal and unequal education, overcrowded schools, parent involvement, activism, and qualifications of teachers. We interviewed administrators, superintendents, teachers, students, activists, parents, workers, and staff. The reason our group chose to interview these particular people was because we wanted to have everyone’s perspective on education during 1984 – 1993.

The tools and methods our group used to conduct research were interviews, excerpts, articles, and GIS maps. We chose these particular tools and methods because we felt we needed to have a variety of ways to find research. Our group’s data analysis is different from traditional historical research because we did not use only one person’s perspective, and we did not just use one tool when looking for our research. We did come across a few problems while using the GIS maps to make some maps part of our presentation. Some of the problems that we had were that we wanted to use information from a certain year, but most of the schools did not give information about their schools that year. Basically, we had resources that we would have liked to use, but the information was not there. We would also have to make different variables, because they were not there in the program.

Our research is critical public history because we gave voice to the voiceless. We analyzed whether something was equal or unequal, and we provided different perspectives of thoughts.

These maps show the demographic shifts in Los Angeles in 1980 and 1990 of White, Latino, and African American populations. As you can see, the White population is more on the outer part of Los Angeles, and keeps going more towards the coast by 1990; the Latino population is, in 1980, concentrated in the eastern part of Los Angeles, East L.A., and since the Latino population increased by 1990, the Latino population moved to Central Los Angeles; the African American population, in 1980, was concentrated in South Central Los Angeles, and, in 1990, the African American population was still mostly concentrated in South Central Los Angeles. The No Majority parts in Los Angeles also increased because of the increase in immigration going into Los Angeles during 1984 – 1993.

This map shows the High Schools in the greater Los Angeles County. As you can see, the high schools that have 75% or more African American and Latino students, are also the schools that are located in the communities where they have the lowest medium income.

This map shows where credentialed teachers are. As you can see on the map, the high schools that have 75% or more African American and Latino students, which are located in low income communities, are also the schools that have 30% or less credentialed teachers.

This map shows the graduation rates of students in Los Angeles high schools. In the end, all of the other maps lead to this one. The schools that are predominantly African American and Latino, located in low income communities, have 30% or less of their teachers credentialed, and are also the high schools that are graduating 30% or less of their 9th grade enrollment.

Experiencing Education During the Decade: 1984 – 1993

Overview: In this citation of critical analysis, we will discuss such explanations for significant trends and or constitutional change whereby members of the greater Los Angeles community were witness to, and subsequently effected by such developments. General themes of deliberation are Demographic shift (Suburbanization, Urbanization), Overpopulation in public schools and in the communities, socioeconomic discrepancies, prioritization of public school funding and cultural difference (Educational Involvement, Violence, and Employment).

One of the most significant attributes to demographic change during this time period was unquestionably catalyzed by the increase in immigration from citizens of South American and Asian countries, primarily of Mexican and Chinese nationalities. Following the influx of immigration, there was an immediate ascension to the south region of Los Angeles, whereby the immigrant families simultaneously searched for housing and employment opportunities. At this time there was an impending culture clash, cultural apprehension by the then predominately Anglo–American communities in the south region of the city. Gradually Anglo–American families decided it would be best to depart from this area, sensing that the dynamics of the community would drastically change given the increase in Mexican, Chinese and African–American populations. University of Chicago Professor Gary Orfield argues in his article about the Los Angeles Desegregation Case that there were other logistical reasons as to why Anglo–American families decided to leave their location of living. He states that “…though many white families accept integrated schools, few wish to have their children in predominantly black or Hispanic schools that they fear will soon be virtually all–minority.” It is generally believed that these departing families inhabited the northern section of the city, the San Fernando Valley, while the “minority” families, in terms of population, created a sanctuary for themselves in the inner–city community. The departure and arrival of these populations based on ethnicity coined two terms, the first would be "Suburbanization" and the second "Urbanization," which in turn categorized the social division of the city; the “majority” population inhabits the outskirts of the city, the “minority” group inhabits the inner–city.

Oscar de la Torre, Founder and Director of the Pico Youth & Family Center in Santa Monica, recalls the mid 1980's when “Santa Monica was virtually an African – American and Latino community...now you have more white families entering Santa Monica because of its desirable location, and you have these two groups of people leaving the community due to the lack of residential and domestic affordability.”

Many different cities experienced some sort of demographic shift, such as the city of Watts. Wherein the early 1980’s the community was about ninety percent or more African–American, after about 10 years the population demographic had drastically changed, the community had become equalized, and there was equal representation of both African–American and Latino populations. This transcended onto public education as well, whereby 99th Street Elementary School Administrator, Mrs. Irving clearly ascribes to this noticeable change. “In the mid 1980’s 99th Street Elementary School's student population was ninety–eight percent African–American, in the last 10 – 15 years this percentage has shifted to represent an equally proportional student population of African–American and Latino students.” As higher–income families enter a community, housing prices increase, tending to the liquidation of lower–income families.

Schools such as Garfield High School, Roosevelt High School, Belmont High School and Los Angeles High School, are all concept six schools, meaning they manage their academic curriculums on a year–round track system, due to the desperate state in which these schools were overpopulated with students in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The definitive purpose of a concept six school is to relieve the overwhelming amount of students attending a high school. When approximately one–third of the student body is given a different season to begin school, it reduces the amount of students attending a high school in one specific period. Theoretically, this seems to be an excellent remedy for overpopulation in public schools, though it is quite evident that the quality of education is greatly effected in a negative fashion, given that most of these year–round schools are located in or near the vicinity of the lower–income neighborhoods predominantly populated with people of color. College Counselor of Garfield High School, Ms. Head, believes that the year-round school "has really limited our rate of proficiency. I have to deal with more than 5,000 students, because I am the only specific college counselor at this school, that in itself increases the margin of error.” As Oscar de la Torre also mentions, “Students need the proper attention in class that they, in many cases, do not receive at home. If the class has more then thirty students, the instructor is less able to provide these services to their students.”

In these concept six schools there exist pathways of division amongst the student body in terms of academics; the range of tracks is 3 – 4, in which some tracks are categorized as college–bound, others as possible college material or graduation track. This trend is vindicated by the state testing results as well as the S.A.T. and A.C.T. scores of the last 10 – 15 years.

Since the mid 1980s, or even prior to this there has been an increasing need and demand for new affordable housing given that these inner – city communities have seen an exponential growth in population without an equally expeditious growth in residencies to live in, paralleled by the absence of new facilities for education. Given the circumstances of inner–city communities and its inability to adapt to the changes in the community over the last 10 – 20 years, it is much more difficult for an individual living in this area to be prosperous and proficient given the extraneous void of resources and equitable career opportunities.

Socioeconomic Discrepancies

Demographic shifts in communities have contributed to social division, more specifically social capital and financial status. One illustration of this theory is the establishment of the Pupil With Transportation (P.W.T.) program, which began approximately during the early 1970s and still continues today. The objective of this program was to integrate schools, which are predominately Anglo–American and in which students of color are greatly underrepresented. These schools are typically found to be located a substantial distance from the inner–city. Students are provided with transportation in order for them to attend these schools on a daily basis. Regina Frier, a U.C. Berkeley graduate, received her Political Science Doctorate in the early 1990s and is now a professor at Occidental University teaching Political Science. She was a P.W.T. student at Palisades High School, bused from South Los Angeles in the early to mid 1980s, and has said about her experience that “All the students of color came on the bus, while the white students lived nearby.” She also felt that “In wealthier neighborhoods a quality education is a human right, in low–income neighborhoods students have to fight for their education....educational accessibility is based upon Race and Class.” Such feelings are shared amongst P.W.T students and at times they are very difficult to distinguish. Mr. Urquetta, for example, a teacher at 99th Street Elementary School, very much shares the words of Regina Frier, only in a different context. “I remember that the students who lived in the area, were the ones who were allowed to take the A.P. and Honors courses, while the students who lived in my neighborhood, were not offered these courses.” These illustrations underscore the trend of social and educational inequities across Los Angeles.

In the mid 1980s a strategic effort to further integrate public schools was implemented with the Mandatory & Voluntary integration program. Critics of this program would argue that the program failed to diversify and equalize education, due to the lack of ethnic relations amongst the students. Advocates of the program would say that it was an honest attempt to improve ethnic opportunity in education.

Another educational classification was implemented through the establishment of Magnet schools across Los Angeles. These schools catered to the “gifted and talented” students; the phrase “gifted and talented” is based upon these students’ exceptional standardized test scores. Much of what is learned in these schools are profession oriented, meaning that the students are provided with specialized courses or activities which prepare them to pursue their professional ambitions.

Based on the data gathered involving twenty–five or more interview and case study research, the quality of education is directly proportional to social and financial capital, contributing to society’s disproportionate equity.

Public school funding is indicative of social and financial capital. It has been proven that schools located in wealthier neighborhoods receive more funding than that of lower–income neighborhoods, therefore, the resources available to schools is dependent upon geographical location as well as who inhabits this area. Testimony to this argument is available today, with experiences like Mr. Lyons', who was a P.W.T. student who lived in Watts and went to school in the San Fernando Valley and is now a teacher at 99th Street Elementary School. “The schools in the low–income communities don’t have the same resources as the schools in the high–income communities. Here in Watts we don’t have textbooks to provide the students. If I were teaching in the [San Fernando] Valley I would have textbooks to provide my students with.”

As stated in the article by Gary Orfield, “The curriculum is more advanced at the schools with the larger concentrations of students with strong academic backgrounds and interests, children who tend to be white or Asian.” One might be inclined to say the quality of education is reflective of the community, if we are so inclined to say this how we can argue that we are not marginalized into certain ways of living, recycling the previous struggles of the people.

As reported by Maria, a fourth–year college student at East Los Angeles College, both the educational and professional treatment of her is different from those who live in the higher privileged communities. “Due to the community I live in [East Los Angeles], my opportunities are limited,” she said. Education is an avenue for overcoming struggle and if all is not equal can we expect to experience equality on a grand level.

Cultural difference (Educational Involvement, Violence and Employment)

Culture goes beyond heritage, tradition and skin tone; culture is a state of mind, an envelopment of mentality. Culture is threatened by social reproduction; it limits our hope and faith in those distinct matters which shape our lives. Without hope and faith in our culture we are consumed by the fallacies determined and proliferated by our social capital, too many times we fall victim to the illusion that we are not entitled, worthy, or capable of something extraordinary which transcends our culture. A former student of Belmont High School, Richard Cortez, who is a College Counselor for Santa Monica College, now challenges those illusions of not being entitled or worthy. Having already dealt with those traumas himself, he now realizes why some of these inferiority particulars exist. He felt that, “Violence was a way of life at Belmont High School, we would always hear gunshots around the neighborhood, and for us it became more like roadside traffic. Due to this, students became more accepting of violence, as we were more susceptible to violent activities.” As a remedy to violence others seek alternative locations for their children to study. Such was the case with Mr. Lyons. When he was a young student his mother found it necessary to give her son a better opportunity to learn by having him transported to another school outside of the community. “My mother was fearful that I would get involved in the gangs if was to go to school in my neighborhood, this was the reason why she sent me to school in the [San Fernando] Valley.”

Many times our involvement in education reflects our sentiments as individuals. If education is a priority at a certain moment then chances are you will be engaged. The Los Angeles Unified School District superintendent of District I, Dr. Sylvia Rousseau best reflected those comments by saying, “part of the reason why students become apathetic is because we have yet to institutionalize the movement of providing a quality education.” Oscar de la Torre comments, “If you are not given support by your family, you are more likely to suffer, both physically and emotionally, and you will most likely make others suffer as well.” If you are continuously exposed to violence you have a higher probability of being involved in violence in the future.

If the labor is more demanding should we not receive better privileges? If there is less opportunity and equity should we be expected to perform at a higher level? The resolution is simple, there can no longer exist limitations as to what we can and cannot achieve. By having these discrepancies it limits our capability, though it is not to say we cannot overcome and persevere, it is to say we are reproducing what we have been and not what we are becoming.