How is your school described in its SARC?
Your school’s SARC contains very little information about the people and the physical plant that make up your school. SARCs in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) report the number of students, from each racial/ethnic background, who attend the school. LAUSD’s SARCs offer little insight about what shared vision motivates the people at each school. Every SARC includes the same nine “school goals” defined by the district. Further, we learn nothing from LAUSD’s SARCs about the school’s physical plant. Each school in LAUSD provides the same two-sentence description of its “School Facilities”: “Major maintenance improvements in campus appearance to promote a positive learning environment. Please call the school for additional information.”
Click here for instructions on how to view your SARC online.
Now It's Your Turn to Describe Your School:
Describing the People, Describing the Place
TCLA begins its Virtual School Report Card Project by asking you to describe both the members of your school community and the place you call school. Who are the young people who attend your school? Who are their parents? Who are the people who work at your school? What hopes do these individuals bring to your school? What are their concerns? Where is your school located? What does it look like? If a visitor wanted to see the heart of your school, where would you take them? TCLA seeks pictures, essays, poems, stories, and interviews that respond to these questions. We also would like photographs or electronic copies of school mission statements; recordings or videos of students reading their school mission statements aloud; student artwork depicting what their schools look like.
Describing California’s Schools: Crisis and Vision
What are schools like across the state of California? What should they be like? TCLA will be exploring these question throughout the year. We include two readings in this issue that respond to each of these questions. The first is a description of one school that suffers from many of the problems facing schools around the state—overcrowding, inadequate facilities and materials, and a lack of highly qualified teachers. The second is a statement from the California Legislature’s Master Plan Committee about what every student is entitled to.
•Does your school experience some of the same problems as Cali Middle School?
•Does every student at your school receive the quality of education promised in the state Master Plan?
Tools for Students, Teachers, and Parents
? How do I find my school's SARC (School Accountability Report Card)?
Letter to School Principal
