Mobilizing the Eastside of Los Angeles for Educational Justice

Henry M. Perez and Perla Madera

A ten-year effort led by youth, community organizers, and a range of partners resulted in two new, successful high schools and showed the power of grassroots mobilization for social justice.

I’ve seen students that started off at or decades, the Eastside of Torres High School, before we had all Los Angeles1 has seen mainly these partners, and some were struggling. Flow-performing schools with Some were getting into trouble doing huge push-out rates, low graduation things that they shouldn’t have been rates, and low percentages of students doing. But when you connect these same prepared to attend a four-year univer- students with the right program it makes sity. Eastside schools have been, and to a big difference. They become more an extent continue to be, some of the focused. Extended learning time is most overcrowded and underresourced helping us keep our students in school. schools, not only in the Los Angeles We are offering them more than just Unified School District, but math and science and the whole practice in the entire nation. of drill and kill. We are offering them art, music, and mentorship. 1 The region East of downtown Los Angeles that includes unincorporated East Los — Alex Fuentes, principal, Torres High Angeles, Boyle Heights, El Sereno, and School Engineering and Technology Lincoln Heights is popularly referred to Academy as “the Eastside.”

Henry M. Perez is associate director of InnerCity Struggle in Los Angeles. Perla Madera is a youth organizer for InnerCity Struggle.

18 Annenberg Institute for School Reform But there are two schools in this school hours through the implementa- neighborhood that have reversed these tion of more and better learning time trends. Since opening in 2009 and to assist in meeting the academic and 2010 respectively, Felicitas and social needs of the students and their Gonzalo Mendez High School for families.3 College and Career Preparation and This collaborative effort to create two Esteban E. Torres High School have new community schools shined a bright developed to be two of the more light on the crisis of public education successful high schools in the Eastside. in East Los Angeles. It also flipped the Located only five miles away from each narrative of the education crisis in Los other, they are the first two schools Angeles from one of scapegoating that have been built in the East Los students and parents to one of recog- Angeles region in more than eighty nizing systemic inequities faced by a years. Just last year, Mendez High mainly low-income, immigrant Latino School was recognized for recording community, which prevent them from a more than fifty-point gain on its accessing the education they deserve Academic Performing Index (API) and limit their life opportunities. score, one of the largest gains in the state of California (Watanabe 2013). In a September Los Angeles Magazine HOW TWO COMMUNITY article ranking the top seventy-five high SCHOOLS WERE BORN schools in Los Angeles County, Torres Renaissance Academy and Torres The community schools approach Engineering and Technology Academy, differs from some other school design two of the five autonomous pilot models in that there is no one blueprint schools on the Esteban E. Torres High for a community school. In some School campus, were listed #32 and places, community schools are initiated #60, respectively (Mathews 2014). and planned top-down from the school district. But in East Los Angeles, The progress and current standing of Community Schools strategies have Mendez and Torres High Schools is developed from a grassroots, bottom- something that has not been seen in up approach through more than ten East Los Angeles in a very long time. years of organizing campaigns – led In this article, the authors draw on our by youth, parents, organizers from own experience at InnerCity Struggle InnerCity Struggle, and key education and interviews with a number of other partners – that have served as building stakeholders to detail how InnerCity blocks toward creating a successful and Struggle partnered with students, sustainable community schools parents, educators, community infrastructure at Mendez and Torres members, and nonprofits to implement high schools. a “community schools” vision at these two schools. The framework for the 2 For more on Linked Learning, see community schools vision consists of linkedlearning.org and the article by Janet implementing strategies such as: 1) the Lopez and Peter Rivera in this issue of VUE. establishment of school-based supports 3 For more on community schools, see the like wellness centers or health clinics; articles by Natasha Capers and Shital Shah and by Janet Lopez and Peter Rivera in this 2) the use of restorative justice as an issue of VUE, and linkedlearning.org. alternative to punitive discipline policies like suspensions and expul- sions; 3) the integration of Linked Learning2 in the instructional curriculum; and 4) maximizing the use of after

Henry M. Perez and Perla Madera VUE 2015, no. 40 19 The Evolution of InnerCity Struggle issues impacting their quality of education. Repeatedly, students InnerCity Struggle began organizing identified overcrowding as their number youth and families in the East Los one concern. In 2002, Garfield High Angeles community of Boyle Heights School had approximately 4,700 in 1994. It started as an organization students on a year-round school dedicated to reducing the violence in calendar with three tracks that alter- the community as well as supporting nated being in and out of session. This the victims and survivors of that overcrowding and year-round calendar violence, mainly mothers and youth, disrupted students’ learning process through gang intervention and support and opportunities (one track would programs. In the early 2000s, with a be in session two months and out of new staff taking the helm of the session the next two months year organization, InnerCity Struggle shifted round) and led to a loss of seventeen its focus from gang intervention to days of instruction per year for stu- school-based youth organizing for dents, as well as numerous other education reform. The InnerCity negative outcomes. Struggle staff created an educational justice vision based on improving With the results of their survey com- graduation and college-going rates and plete, InnerCity Struggle youth felt like creating a safe and healthy learning they had a strong mandate from the environment with holistic support students at Garfield High School to programs for the youth and families fight for a new school and made the of the Eastside. The staff developed a decision to launch the “new schools strategic plan to implement their vision campaign” to win the construction of and began organizing campaigns aimed a new high school for their community. at reaching that vision. InnerCity After months of organizing meetings Struggle began working at two of with students and parents, collecting the four high schools and soon was thousands of signatures on petitions working at all four Eastside high in support of a new high school, schools. conducting several delegations with decision-makers from the Los Angeles In 2002, a group of youth from Unified School District, and conducting Garfield High School in East Los marches and rallies, the youth and Angeles came together to discuss families of InnerCity Struggle won their how they could improve the crisis-like campaign for a new East Los Angeles conditions at their school. At that time, high school in 2004. In the end, they less than 50 percent of Garfield’s not only won one new high school, but students were graduating, and only they won two new high schools, a new about 16 percent were graduating elementary school, and an adult school eligible to attend a four-year university. for the community. The students from Garfield High School came together under the name Additionally, the “new schools cam- United Students and were organized paign” gave InnerCity Struggle great by youth organizers from InnerCity momentum and support for continuing Struggle. their educational justice vision for Eastside schools. InnerCity Struggle Trying to get a grasp on the key would then leverage this momentum barriers that were hindering Garfield and support to strategically push High School students from receiving forward a community-led vision and a quality education, the students effort for community schools at launched a survey gathering effort Mendez High School and Torres among their peers. The surveys asked High School. students to identify the most pressing

20 Annenberg Institute for School Reform Turning New Schools Into In 2009, the Los Angeles Unified Community Schools School District launched an initiative known as Public School Choice. Although approved in 2004, the two Although many in the education world new schools were not scheduled to expressed concerns over an initiative open until 2009 and 2010. Looking that would allow external operators to forward, InnerCity Struggle recognized bid for any new and low-performing that it had a tremendous opportunity school in the district, InnerCity to organize the community toward Struggle and the ELAEC saw this as influencing how the schools would an opportunity to carry out their operate once they opened. Students community schools vision at one of the and parents of InnerCity Struggle new high schools that was opening in pressed forward stating that these East Los Angeles. With the support of new schools, that the community the Los Angeles Education Partnership fought so hard to win, could not (LAEP), a nonprofit organization operate “business as usual” or in the with expertise in providing teacher “status quo” of what the community support, instructional development, was used to. These schools needed to and operating community schools, be drastically different. They needed to the East Los Angeles Education have a more personalized environment Partnership launched a pilot schools for students and parents, they needed campaign for the Esteban E. Torres to have high expectations and a high school campus. college-going culture for students, and they needed to be community schools LAEP worked with five teams of that would be open, accessible, and teachers who developed five distinct welcoming to the community and proposals to operate five autonomous serve as a hub of enrichment and pilot schools at the soon-to-be-opened support programs and services for Torres High School. InnerCity Struggle the community. worked with the teams to ensure that the proposals reflected a commitment InnerCity Struggle understood that in to a community schools vision. order to achieve this vision, it needed a InnerCity Struggle youth and parents broad base of support from community also led a campaign to inform and and education stakeholders in East Los engage the East Los Angeles commu- Angeles. In 2007, InnerCity Struggle nity to support a student, parent, launched the East Los Angeles Educa- and community vote for the pilot tion Collaborative (ELAEC). This school proposals. After months of collaborative was made up of students, organizing, the LAUSD School Board parents, representatives from commu- selected the community’s pilot school nity-based organizations, teachers, proposals over the competing charter principals, and elected representatives. school proposals. As the convener, InnerCity Struggle facilitated the collaborative in developing a “Community Vision for Public SUSTAINING THE VISION Education in the Eastside.” It included the same elements that students and The pilot school campaign victory won parents had pushed for but also by InnerCity Struggle, LAEP, and the included the desire for schools to have ELAEC sustained the energy and greater autonomy and flexibility over momentum for creating a new direc- curriculum, budgets, governance, tion for public education in East Los hiring, and schedules. Angeles. In the larger scheme of things, InnerCity Struggle understood that if the community was successful in

Henry M. Perez and Perla Madera VUE 2015, no. 40 21 building an alternative school model the campus until the district approved at Torres High School, it would create them. After months of no approval, the pressure and conditions for other InnerCity Struggle used organizing schools in the community to improve strategies to pressure the district to as well. approve the providers and the space for a wellness center. InnerCity Struggle youth launched a petition demanding Torres High School that the district provide the space for As the new Esteban E. Torres High a wellness center. InnerCity Struggle School was set to open in the fall of organized delegations between the 2010, students and parents wanted superintendent and students, parents, to ensure that the commitment to teachers, and principals to express the a community schools vision was urgency of providing students with honored. Two top priorities for the mental health services and the expecta- community were the creation of a tion for the district to follow through community schools coordinator on its commitment. After an almost position and the establishment of two-year campaign, the Esteban Torres a wellness center on campus. The Wellness Center was inaugurated in community saw a community school April 2012. coordinator position as essential to facilitating the process of identifying Extended Learning Time at Torres school-based needs and finding partners that could assist the school Another important part of the in meeting those needs. community’s vision for Torres was the implementation of an extended Additionally, InnerCity Struggle and learning time initiative through LAEP. the ELAEC learned from students that Today at Torres, more than twenty mental health services were a high external partners are providing priority. Many students shared their enrichment and support programs for struggles with high stress and anxiety, the roughly 2,000 students attending as well as depression and suicidal the five pilot schools on campus. tendencies. Immediately, InnerCity According to recent data compiled by Struggle and LAEP created a school- LAEP, the twenty partners are serving based health task force charged with approximately 761 students from all the responsibility of establishing a five pilot schools. The programs wellness center on campus. The health offered at Torres High School through task force included community-based the extended learning time initiative organizations, teachers, principals, serve as a way to augment the existing school-based nurses and psychologists, curriculum of the five pilot schools. students, and parents. This partnership enabled the school to quickly identify As Cristina Patricio, community three community-based health provid- schools coordinator at Torres, states, ers that were willing to provide Extended learning time provides the primary care and mental health care students at Torres the opportunities services at no cost to the school. to explore courses and programs that Even though the school had identified LAUSD does not offer them. partners ready to provide free health For example, the Torres Engineering care services to students of Torres High and Technology Academy, because of School, there still existed a challenge: its career focus, is unable to prioritize the local Los Angeles Unified School music classes for its students. However, District representatives wouldn’t allow through extended learning time, they the health care providers to come onto are able to offer their students music

22 Annenberg Institute for School Reform classes provided by a local team of He was a troubled kid but is really musicians. talented at playing the drums. He was able to join one of our after- Torres High School is currently in the

school music programs and that process of offering a murals program really grounded him here at Torres through a local nonprofit called High School. Self-Help Graphics & Art. This course will offer students the opportunity to gain an arts experience that currently lacks significant investment in districts throughout the country. At the same time, students will learn about the rich history of murals in their own commu- “ nity and become much more grounded Today at Torres, more than twenty external in the history of their community. partners are providing enrichment and support Extended learning time is also providing Torres High School students with programs for the roughly 2,000 students the opportunity to focus on health and wellness. The nonprofit group People’s “ attending the five pilot schools on campus. Yoga offers yoga classes to students at the school; another outside partner offers Zumba classes.

In addition to enrichment programs, Patricio shares that extended learning time gives many students the opportu- From Fuentes’ perspective, extended nity to develop their leadership skills. learning time is critical to giving Torres High School has a mentorship low-income students an opportunity to program offered by LAEP where compete with students from more upperclassmen take on the role of affluent families. He says, mentoring underclassmen. This If you are from a middle class opportunity has helped students like neighborhood you can afford for Santiago, who Patricio describes your kids to be involved in extra- as a young man who dealt with serious curricular programs, such as piano anger issues:4 classes. In East Los Angeles, parents In his first three years at Torres, no want these opportunities but usually one knew what to do with him. They cannot afford to pay for them. struggled working with him because For parents to receive it for free of his anger issues. The mentorship at Torres High School, and know program was a space that really that their kids will be safe, is an worked for Santiago. He felt engaged extraordinary benefit. by the school, and he was able to Torres stays open until six p.m. in place all of his energy into something order to offer students the array of positive. expanded learning time programs. Alex Fuentes, principal of the Torres Students are even offered a meal for High School Engineering and Technol- participating in the afterschool ogy Academy, agrees that students are programs. Fuentes appreciates the fact benefiting from extended learning time that ELT is helping students do programs. He tells the story of Javier: something positive in the afterschool hours rather than potentially getting into trouble out in the streets. 4 Students’ names are pseudonyms.

Henry M. Perez and Perla Madera VUE 2015, no. 40 23 Fuentes sees ELT as part of the overall Promise Neighborhoods initiative. In community schools vision that began an effort to win the highly competitive with the organizing campaign of federal grant, three organizations – InnerCity Struggle and LAEP to win InnerCity Struggle, Proyecto Pastoral, the pilot schools at Torres High School. and the East Los Angeles Community He states, Corporation (ELACC) – came together to submit a collaborative proposal All of this support is helping us build under the name of Promesa Boyle a culture here at Torres High School. Heights. In 2010, Promesa Boyle Where in the past, parents would try Heights was awarded a Promise to send their kids to other schools Neighborhoods planning grant.5 outside of East Los Angeles, we now have a culture where parents want With the planning grant, Promesa their kids to attend Torres High Boyle Heights was able to facilitate a

School because they see what we community-led process to establish a are providing the students here. collective impact, community schools vision for families of Mendez High School in which a continuum of

services and programs would support students in the Mendez High School area from cradle to college. Dozens of organizations came together and “The biggest impact for me is seeing that “ committed to supporting this community vision by offering their services people care and that they are here to help in specific areas of the plan.

us; lots of schools don’t offer that.” Even though Promesa Boyle Heights was not awarded an implementation “ grant for the Promise Neighborhoods – Victor Lopez, Mendez High School Student initiative, going through the process and InnerCity Struggle youth leader of the planning grant and developing a collective impact plan fully engaged the community. Many of the organizations that were a part of the planning process reaffirmed their commitment to And these programs are supporting the the implementation of the community schools at Torres High School to make schools collective impact vision tremendous academic gains. The regardless of not receiving the Promise graduation rate at the Engineering and Neighborhoods implementation grant. Technology Academy rose 17 percent Many organizations were willing to from the previous year and is now at provide in-kind services to move 77 percent for a four-year cohort. In forward specific pieces of the plan. addition, 75 percent of the academy’s Since then, Proyecto Pastoral, a current senior class is eligible for a community organization located in four-year university with a G.P.A of Boyle Heights, has served as the anchor 2.5 or greater. organization for the Promesa Boyle Heights initiative and has taken the Mendez High School lead in moving the community schools collective impact vision forward. Deycy Mendez High School developed its direction toward a community school 5 For more on Promise Neighborhoods, see vision through the process of applying the article by Michael McAfee and Mauricio to the federal Department of Education Torre in this issue of VUE.

24 Annenberg Institute for School Reform Hernandez, director of Promesa Boyle school to get that recognition. Heights, describes the initiative: Macias recognizes that the staff of Promesa Boyle Heights is a collab- Mendez High School could not have orative of organizations within the accomplished that great achievement [Boyle Heights] community that without the implementation of a developed a shared vision for where collaborative community effort guided we want the community to be in the by a community schools collective next ten years. It is a vision to ensure impact initiative. that students are able to succeed To be able to accomplish what we from the time that they are born to have accomplished, it’s not one the time that they graduate from person, it’s not one teacher, it’s not college. one student. It’s really a team effort The essence of a community schools and a collaboration of parents, vision is the partnerships and collabo- students, the partners, teachers, and ration of individuals inside and outside administration. It really requires of a school. Having a school open itself everyone to work together because up to outside partners that are there to it is a tough, tough job. scrutinize and identify what are issues It is obvious that the most impacted to resolve inside of the school is not by the efforts of the Promesa Boyle always easy for school officials. Patty Heights initiative are the students. Kitaoka, an academic case manager Victor Lopez is a current student at placed inside of Mendez High School Mendez High School. He is also a by Proyecto Pastoral, said, youth leader with InnerCity Struggle The first year that we were [at and very engaged in the community Mendez High School], we got the assemblies to discuss the progress of sense that the school did not want the Promesa Boyle Heights initiative. partnerships, and we were really He says, trying to figure out how the partner- The biggest impact for me is seeing ships fit and how they would be best that people care and that they are utilized. here to help us; lots of schools don’t It didn’t take very long for the leader- offer that. ship of Mendez High School to realize To Victor, it is very evident that there the benefits of these partnerships and is a community schools effort being the success that would come with developed at Mendez High School. He working toward a community schools sees the wealth of partnerships that his collective impact vision. Alejandro school now has and feels very appre- Macias is an assistant principal at ciative for it. Mendez High School. He has been present at the school since it opened I personally take in a lot of love with in 2009, prior to the Promesa Boyle having lots of partners within the Heights initiative and at a time when campus. There are much more the school was struggling to meet its opportunities for myself and my potential. He said: classmates. We are really lucky and grateful for all the partnerships. 2011 to 2012 was the year Mendez was recognized by the LAUSD Board of Education for having the second highest percentage of students with perfect attendance. It was a big deal; we were actually the first Eastside

Henry M. Perez and Perla Madera VUE 2015, no. 40 25 REVERSING SYSTEMIC REFERENCES INEQUITIES AND THE NARRATIVE OF FAILURE Mathews, J. 2014. “75 Los Angeles County High Schools – Public and Private – That More than ten years ago, students at Bring Out the Best in Students,” Los Garfield High School decided to do Angeles Magazine (September 23). something about their overcrowded, underresourced, low-performing Watanabe, T. 2013. “State Academic school. They did not accept that these Performance Slips, but L.A. Unified conditions were inevitable in neighbor- Improves,” Los Angeles Times (August 29). hoods with high levels of poverty and large numbers of students of color. They believed that they and their families and their community deserved better.

The path leading to the two new, successful high schools described in this article was not easy. It required over a decade of hard work, grassroots organizing, and partnership building. But the vision of sustainable community schools that provide the learning opportunities and services that students need to succeed, and that act as hubs for community services and enrichment programs, proved to be powerful, gaining the support of an increasing number of partners.

The result is a model of bottom-up community mobilization for social justice that rejects blaming students and families for low-performing schools; rather, it addresses systemic inequities that deny low-income students of color their right to an excellent education. The authors hope that the story of Mendez and Torres high schools will inspire other commu- nities to look at their own schools and know that the path to equal opportunity is difficult, but possible. This path requires that youth, families, and community members be at the center of planning and decision making. It requires a community-wide, long-term commitment to collaboration and support. The results – engaged students, surrounded by caring adults, prepared to succeed in college and life – are priceless.

26 Annenberg Institute for School Reform