I couldn't make the meeting, but it sounds like many on the board echoed my sentiments below. BCS needs to be doing a much better job in reaching these under-served demographics.
From: Dave Cortright <davecortright@yahoo.com>
To: Joseph Di Salvo <josephsds1@aol.com>; Michael Chang <michael_chang@sccoe.org>; Anna Song <anna_song@sccoe.org>; Grace Mah <grace_mah@sccoe.org>; Julia Hover-Smoot <julia_hover-smoot@sccoe.org>; Leon Beauchman <leon_beauchman@sccoe.org>; Carmen Aminzadeh <Carmen_Aminzadeh@sccoe.org>; Xavier De La Torre <Xavier_DeLaTorre@sccoe.org>; Lucretia Peebles <Lucretia_Peebles@sccoe.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 2, 2013 11:58 PM
Subject: BCS outreach is not very effective
I see that BCS is doing its annual presentation tomorrow. While there are a number of points that could be made about the presentation (such as the confrontational tone around facilities when they are the legal aggressors, or the fact that it's been all talk and no action when it comes to help you realize SJ2020), I will focus on one: their ineffective outreach.
p.4-5 lists a great number of initiatives that BCS took to reach a broader audience. But despite this, BCS continues to enroll statistically significantly fewer Hispanic, ELL, special ed, and low-SES students than LASD. One possible conclusion is that even though BCS is reaching these demographics, those families are ultimately turned off from applying or attending BCS. I am curious to understand why that is, and I hope you are too.
Because the truth of the matter is these students, the ones who have the most challenges to learning, are also the most expensive to educate. BCS knows this, and admitting these students would ruin their financial model. Through whatever mechanism is in place, the BCS admissions process is influencing these students to shy away from the school, which means that the BCS program discriminates against them.
Put bluntly, BCS is creaming. Despite increased outreach in getting the message out, these populations have spoken loud and clear: BCS will not work for our children. Don't you think BCS should work for these under-served classes? Isn't that what section 47601(b) is all about? Please ask hard questions of BCS leadership and hold them accountable for their underperformance in achieving racial and ethnic balance.
I'd also encourage you to reach out to people in these communities and understand why they choose not to attend BCS. I hear BCS has recently worked with some telemarketing firms. I'm sure they could help you out.
Thanks for listening.
·Dave Cortright