Francis Polytechnic High School students who registered about 150 of their peers to vote. (courtesy photo)

One hundred and thirty Francis Polytechnic High School students enjoyed free raspados at lunchtime Wednesday as a reward for encouraging their peers to register to vote in the primary election.

During the month of May, 20 government students at the Sun Valley high school registered 150 Poly high school seniors and juniors to vote.

The school was part of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles’ “LA Youth Vote” program. Funded by a LA2050 grant, the United Way dispersed $500 to each school for activities to encourage students to register and to vote. The activities varied at each school and included rallies, DJs, cookies, posters and raspados.

About 2,040 LA Unified students registered to vote at 28 schools, according to data from the United Way. About 60 percent of those students were eligible to vote in Tuesday’s primary; some were not yet 18 years old but could pre-register.

Data from the United Way that show the number of LAUSD students registered to vote this year at each participating high school.

A bill by Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez, D-Northeast Los Angeles, signed into law in 2014 allows students to be “voter outreach coordinators” on their campuses and to register their peers to vote.

In April, Secretary of State Alex Padilla “deputized” about 200 LA Unified students and encouraged them to register 2,000 students. The students rose to the challenge and exceeded the goal.

Rachel Ochsenreither, 18, had planned on voting in the primary election even before she became deputized, but participating in the process made it that much more exciting for her.

“It was a new experience since it was my first. It kind of got me to make sure I do it every time,” the senior said of voting.

She even encouraged her mother and older sister to register to vote.

Rachel Ochsenreither, 18, who was deputized as a registrar, voted for the first time Tuesday. (courtesy photo)

While most of her peers were excited to register, Ochsenreither said some students were skeptical of signing up. They didn’t think their vote would count or their voice would be heard, she said.

She told them, “Your vote is your voice, of course your voice will be heard.”

“That kind of convinced of them, ‘OK, maybe I should vote, because this is the year I can vote’,” she said.

Some students who registered close to the May 23 deadline had to cast provisional ballots.

Dana Brooks, a government teacher at Poly who led the school’s election activities, said that her students warned their peers that might be the case, but it didn’t prevent some of the new voters from feeling disappointed to receive a provisional ballot. (Provisional ballots are counted once the county registrar determines the voter is eligible to vote.)

This presidential election year, Brooks said her senior government students have been more engaged in the presidential election than before, which she attributes to the personalities of “Bernie and the Donald,” presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump.

She said the majority of her students support Sanders. When she brought in a sample ballot to review with her students, all they wanted to know was, “What number do I bubble for Bernie?,” she said.

She said she was surprised at the eagerness of her students who wanted to become deputies and were willing to participate in the training on a Saturday.

A 2015 study by UC Davis Center for Regional Change’s California Civic Engagement Project found that in the November 2014 election, youth voter turnout was the lowest for all age groups: 8.2 percent of California’s eligible youth voted, compared to 18.5 percent in the 2010 general election.

“High school youth who learn why voting is relevant to their lives, and learn how to actually register and vote, are more likely to cast ballots when they turn 18,” the study’s author, Mindy Romero, director of the California Civic Engagement Project, wrote.

LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean Logan told KPCC in April that 63 percent of all new registered voters were 18- to 29-year-olds. He called the jump significant and unlike previous election cycles.

It is still unclear if the boost in registrations resulted in youth turning out to vote Tuesday in greater numbers. Voter turnout countywide Tuesday was about 30 percent, higher than the 2012 presidential primary (21.87 percent), but lower than the 2008 presidential primary turnout of 55.26 percent.

Elmer Roldan, who heads the United Way’s educational programs, said the LA Youth Vote program began last year with the LA Unified school board races. They registered 3,000 students in the local election.

“For us, we see this as a long-term platform for young people to be influential in the decisions that impact education,” he said. “What we envision is that we will engage young people throughout the summer and in November and really ride the wave.”

He said United Way plans on hosting student-moderated and student-run forums ahead of the school board elections in March.

Students were encouraged to share their photos on social media with the hashtag #PartyAtThePolls.

Just voted !!! @LAYouthVote #PartyAtThePolls pic.twitter.com/0eYEF40VOM

— Mike (@MichaelAsh_Fit) June 8, 2016

#PartyAtThePolls voted ?? pic.twitter.com/SYtBCSqwnz

— Jonesy Mcfly (@icebergfraiser) June 8, 2016

I voted. Did you?

A photo posted by @banninghsmagnet on Jun 7, 2016 at 4:49pm PDT

Don’t forget to vote, Polls Close at 8Pm #PartyAtThePolls @LAYouthVote pic.twitter.com/wNO5AKttaK

— Fatima (@LostInStereoXo) June 7, 2016

Voting in the Cesar E. Chavez auditorium. @PartnerwithLAEP @LAYouthVote #partyatthepolls pic.twitter.com/HkwuT3164g

— Jose M. Beltran Jr. (@chicanomadman) June 7, 2016

Elmer Roldan of the United of Greater Los Angeles and students from LAUSD. (Credit: Twitter @LAUnitedWay)

*UPDATED

While classmates were at the beach, the mall or the park, about 150 LA Unified high school students spent part of their Saturday dowtown at the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, taking part in a Youth Town Hall.

The focus of the meeting was for the students to offer opinions on how the district should spend Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) money, which this school year brought the district an extra $1.1 billion in budget dollars for high-needs students.

Nearly all the students who came are in a high-needs categories the LCFF is intended to help — students who get free or reduced-price lunch, English learners or those residing in foster care. Governor Jerry Brown’s LCAP law requires that they get extra dollars and that districts draw up a spending plan based, in part, on meaningful public input.

Saturday’s event was the first of six LCFF input meetings the district has scheduled with community partners, and more are likely.

Before breaking into smaller groups to discuss specific ideas, the students received a tutorial on the ins and outs of what the LCFF is from Sara Mooney, an education program associate with United Way, and an inspirational speech from LA Unified school board President Steve Zimmer.

Zimmer promised that the board and the district would listen to their ideas.

“At the end of the day, what this is about it is about, your right to participate — not just to participate — but to guide and drive this process,” Zimmer said. “The money that is coming though LCFF, the money that’s coming from the state, it’s not the school district’s money, it’s not the money of people who are in power. It’s your money. It’s your funds.”

Saturday’s meeting was the second of its kind. Mooney said no school board members attended the first, last year, but having Zimmer tell them they were being listened to was helpful in getting the students engaged in the process.

“I really appreciate him saying that this money is for the students. I think that is super powerful and very correct,” Mooney told LA School Report.

In the smaller groups, students discuss specific ideas on how to improve graduation rates, a change from last year, Mooney said, when each group tackled a different topic.

“We wanted to focus it around 100 percent graduation, not only what do I need to graduate but what do I need to do to get to college. And that is something we feel is sometimes missing from the conversation at LAUSD, which is how many of your students are actually going to college,” Mooney said.

A full document that outlines all the ideas discussed will be finalized in about a week, but the lack of a focus on college came up frequently in one of the smaller groups. Students said the district just wants them to graduate but offers little support in what it takes to get accepted to a good college.

“It seems like they just want to kick us out of high school, not kick us into college,” one student said.

Another topic that came up frequently was the lack of access to college counselors.

Leslie Chavez, a senior at Banning High School in Wilmington, told LA School Report she would ask for more counselors if she could talk directly to Superintendent Ramon Cortines.

“There is a lack of college counselors. My friends are taking the same classes they took in previous years and they are trying to talk to their counselors, but they don’t believe them,” Chavez said.

The need for more counselors was one of the main ideas that came out of last year’s meeting, as well, Mooney said. During her presentation, Mooney told the students that the district allocated an extra $13 million in LCFF funds more counselors, and the United Way felt a big reason was the recommendation from students.

The students were primarily bussed to the meeting and they came from all areas of the district. Many are students leaders, like Chavez, who said she heard about the meeting through the teacher of her Youth and Government club.

“It brings me joy to see that there are other students pushing just as much as I am to improve our schools within LAUSD. We do have a lot of flaws, and I feel like these students and I can really improve what we have,” Chavez said.

As to what got her to dedicate her Saturday to a discussion on LCFF funds, Maria Garcia, a junior at the RFK School for Visual Arts and Humanities said, “My motivation is always to help so that my sister can have a better education and my brother can too. I think it’s important for students to advocate for the generation that is coming after them.”

*UPDATED to reflect the $1.1 billion in LCFF funds are for the current school year, not last year

Nearly a dozen groups contacted by LA School Report said they have been unimpressed or uninvolved in efforts so far by the district and the search firm it hired, Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, to find a replacement for Ramon Cortines.

The district has posted an online survey, asking people to rank qualities sought in a new superintendent; the search firm has said it planned to interview various groups as well as hold community meetings later this month to solicit public input.

One group, Communities for Los Angeles Student Success or CLASS, representing 37 community organizations, has sent a letter to the school board, asking to participate directly in the search for a new superintendent.

Sandra Hamada, director of youth programs for Community Coalition, one of the groups that signed the letter, said it is unclear how the community input will be used in coming up with candidates. “I really do not see how this will make a difference,” she said.

“The survey does not have much depth,” Hamada added. “The survey is very basic, it is a job description. Who would not say ‘yes’ to all of these?”

Hamada echoed other critics of the survey, saying that it isn’t Los Angeles-specific enough and does not go far enough in reflecting the known diverse interests in the community. She and leaders of other groups said they plan to spread the word among their members to get people to weigh in on the survey, but Hamada said she is concerned that “the students and parents that we share this with will be frustrated.”

Teach For America-Los Angeles executive director Lida Jennings said that although no one from her group has been invited individually to participate in the search, she remains hopeful because of board president Steve Zimmer.‬

“We are optimistic that the community forums, open survey and teacher engagement that president Zimmer routinely exhibits will help the board understand what is important to parents, educators and community leaders,” she said. “However, it is critical that these voices hold real influence in the board’s decision, and that is why we’d like to see a community committee have a seat at the interview table.”

Inner City Struggle executive director Maria Brenes noted that she specifically had not heard about the community survey until two days after its release, and that was a sign, she said, of poor community outreach. She said she hopes the school board will listen to groups like hers, which understand needs of the community, particularly low-income minorities.

“It is so important to have a formalized committee,” Brenes said. “This is such an important issue to the state of education, and the most important decision for the Board of Education to make. There are hundreds in our organization who want to be heard about equal access for youth of color, opportunities for college and the voices of our youth and parents will be heard at the forums.”

Ama Nyamekye, executive director of Educators 4 Excellence-Los Angeles, said the search should be more public. She said she believes groups like hers should be able to interview the final candidates, and if they don’t get that chance, she wonders if it’s all just for show.

“What is this all for? I’m looking for a clear understanding of how they are going about it, one of the ways is survey, and that’s fine, but what will they do with the results of this survey?” Nyamekye asked. “I think every group working with education and children should be part of the process. We would like to be part of the process. We have not been contacted.”

Nyamekye conceded that it is a large, diverse district and not everyone can have a say in the search process, but added, “I would at least like to know who is part of the search process, and what input the board members are getting.”

LA’s Promise executive director Veronica Melvin said she has faith in the search process so far: “There are a broad range of stakeholders who care deeply about finding an effective superintendent to lead the district successfully over the next several years. LAUSD is smart to engage Angelenos in its search to ensure it finds an experienced individual to lead its complex education system so that every student achieves his or her greatest potential.”

Teach Plus hasn’t been that closely involved in the search for the superintendent so far. But, executive director Mike Stryer said, “We and the teachers in our network, who teach in high-need schools in LAUSD, call on the next superintendent to focus on ensuring resource equity for all students and support teacher leadership as a pathway to improving our schools.  We welcome for the candidates to meet with our teacher leaders so that they can learn about the great work they are doing in the classroom.”

Sara Mooney, of United Way LA, said the letter that CLASS sent out earlier in the week represents more than 150,000 parents, students and teachers from throughout the district. She said, “It is incumbent on the board to put great stock in their voices and to hold their feedback central to this process.”

CLASS plans to promote the survey to all staff and members of their coalition.

“We appreciate that there is a formal process, that LAUSD has hired a search firm, and that the board is acting with urgency,” Mooney said. “We want to ensure that the community feedback received through the surveys and input sessions influence the search process, characteristics of the next superintendent, and, ultimately, the board’s final decision.”

Click here to sign up for the LA School Report newsletter, and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

LA Unified dusted off its giant ribbon cutting scissors today as Board President Richard Vladovic and officials from Bridge Housing, a property development company, unveiled a 90-unit apartment complex in Gardena that will be home for some lucky district employees who essentially are living in poverty.

According to a press release sent out this morning, “Of the 90 apartments, 62 have been rented by LAUSD employees” earning 30 to 60 percent of the median income. That’s between $14,177 for a single person and $28,355 for a family of four, according to City-Data.com.

While the goal of providing affordable housing to low-income district employees deserves to be lauded, the housing project was originally pitched to the school board as a future home for teachers who cited as a reason for quitting the district is that they live too far from where they work.

This project, and two others in the pipeline, were supposed to solve that problem. But, as LA School Report reported here, it turns out teachers make too much money to qualify to live in any of the units.

Dorsey High a Green Ribbon Schools award winner

Dorsey High School in south Los Angeles was among 58 schools, 14 districts, and nine postsecondary institutions honored by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan this week as a Green Ribbon School.

The winners were chosen for their “progress in reducing environmental impact and utility costs, promoting better health for students and staff, and offering effective environmental education, including civics, STEM and green career pathways,” according to the U.S. Department of Education.

“They demonstrate how sustainability concepts allow students to expand their traditional learning into the real world and to create change for the betterment of communities. This authentic learning engages students in all subjects, and bolsters their critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving capacities,” Duncan said in a statement.

Check out the below YouTube video featuring Duncan:

Registering students to vote

The United Way of Greater Los Angeles has launched an LA Youth Vote campaign aimed at registering 3,000 high school students. The campaign has received the support of California Secretary of State Alex Padilla and Assembly Member Jimmy Gomez, who helped kickoff the campaign on April 18.

Check out  LAYouthVote on twitter for photos, video and more information about the voter drive.

The brutal civil war in Syria has been raging for more than four years now, and some students at View Park Preparatory Charter High School on Crenshaw Blvd. will experience it like never before when they connect virtually with Syrian refugee youth living at a Save the Children community center in Amman, Jordan.

The event is happening April 14 at USC, and highlights the new and visceral ways that digital technology can enhance a student’s education and experience.

Before connecting with the Syrian youth, the Valley Park students will “be immersed in a virtual reality recreation of a bombing and its aftermath in Aleppo, Syria to understand the realities of the Syrian crisis,” according a Global Nomads Group press release. The group is organizing the event, and added, “These young people will discuss the impact of conflict on their daily lives and explore how they can take action locally and globally.”

Click here to learn more about the event.

Instructional Technology Initiative task force meeting

The first meeting of the Instructional Technology Initiative task force is scheduled for later today.

The task force, chaired by Judy Burton, is looking for the best way to pick up the pieces from the district’s disastrous — and rebranded — Common Core Technology Project, which sought to get an iPad into the hands of every student and teacher in the district but was cancelled by Superintendent Ramon Cortines in the wake of a grand jury investigation into the program’s bidding process.

The task force is looking to “develop a plan that supports technology in the classroom to improve teaching and learning,” according to a district press release. A strategic plan is expected to be completed by early 2016.

Linked Learning

The Second Annual Linked Learning Student Showcase took place on Tuesday and gave teams from 10 LAUSD high schools an opportunity to present their projects to local business leaders.

The Linked Learning program is an LA Unified initiative since 2009 that partners with the business community to “build awareness among high school students on the variety of careers available and the role of postsecondary education,” according to its website.

Business leaders from SoCalGas and Warner Music Group were among the participants and saw student projects that included PSAs, a rap performance inspired by Beethoven and drought awareness.

*Corrects reference to Linked Learning. It is an LA Unified program, not United Way, as incorrectly reported in an earlier version.

The ad appears a day before a board meeting when issues of the budget will be a large part of the conversation.

In “An Open Letter to the LAUSD School Board,” the groups who form the coalition known as CLASS – Communities for Los Angeles School Success — call on Superintendent John Deasy and board members to honor the spirit of the state’s new funding mechanism to spend more on students who need it most — English learners, foster youth and students from low-income families.

“As you know,” the ad says, “this year’s budget will set the course for years to come. The community is watching to ensure you support student success first, and we are counting on you to do the right thing.”

Ryan Smith, ‎Director of Education Programs and Policy at the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, the coalition organizer, said the ad was meant to push members to increase funding and build public support for the effort.

Smith said he did not know how much the full-color ad cost.

As the first of three scheduled meetings this month sponsored by CLASS, a coalition of community based civil rights, parent, and teacher organizations, the meeting gives Deasy a chance to hear how parents, teachers and students would like to spend the money, which is part of Gov. Brown’s new Local Control Funding Formula.

It could also provide Deasy ammunition in negotiations with United Teachers Los Angeles, the teachers’ union, which wants to use the money to rehire teachers who were dismissed when the 2008 recession hit.

“One neighborhood might want to use the LCFF to buy back teaching positions,” said Ryan Smith, director of Education Programs and Policy at United Way LA, a member the coalition. “But another might find it more prudent to hire more social workers.”

Smith said that parents, students and teachers know their own schools better than most city officials know them.

Deasy also plans to attend meetings Sept 12 at San Fernando Middle School and Sept. 24 at R.F.K. Community Schools near MacArthur Park.

Jason Mandell, a United Way spokesperson, said that his organization places a high value on any meeting that attracts disparate groups within the community, along with politicians. Board member Monica Garcia is scheduled to attend tonight’s session.

“We’re trying to ensure that the spirit of local control is really carried out in the community,” Mandel said. “Members of the community should decide how this money is spent and we tend to think these types of budget decisions concerning the LCFF dollars should be left to local schools.”

Tom Waldman, the LAUSD spokesman, said in an email the issue of allocating the money will be discussed publicly at the September 10 board meeting.

Previous Posts: Districts to Get First Payment Under Brown’s New Formula, Brown’s New Funding Formula Sets Student Limit for K-3 Classes, Local Groups Join Up for School Improvements 

Maria Brenes of InnerCity Struggle (in red) and other CLASS members address the audience at yesterday’s kickoff event.

Communities for Los Angeles Student Success (CLASS), a new coalition of eight community groups and education-related organizations, officially debuted on Thursday to resounding cheers and support of about 150 educators and community members at United Way of Los Angeles headquarters downtown.

The large, high windowed-room overlooking all of downtown was filled with education advocates, parent groups, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) representatives and many other members from different organizations supporting L.A.’s massive school system.

Collectively, CLASS represents 115,000 students, teachers, parents and other community members, and has also cast its net wider than traditional education advocacy groups to include parent groups, health advocates and foster youth organizations

While CLASS is comprised of different sorts of advocacy groups — from InnerCity Struggle to Educators for Excellence — the broad-based coalition shares the same overarching mission: close the achievement gap in LAUSD.

“It’s a civil rights issue,” said Kaci Patterson of Families in Schools. “There are too many students in too many schools who cannot read by the time they leave third grade. Too many students don’t have access to rigorous enough courses to get them into college.”

Between potato salad and cold-cut sandwiches, participants listened as different CLASS members presented the coalition’s three top priorities: lifting up low-performing schools, expanding access to quality teaching and learning and increasing resources, support and safety for students.

One of CLASS’s first steps to developing a plan to fix the second largest school district in the country was to survey over 100 community leaders about the state of LAUSD.

Ama Nyamekye, executive director for Educators 4 Excellence, presented the findings. “Most responders said they wanted to provide school with more local control of decision-making,” said Nyamekye. “They also want a more diverse evaluation system for teachers that includes classroom observations, parent and student input and student growth on tests.”

A more extensive evaluation system for principals was also overwhelmingly desired, as well as more college and career preparation courses for all students.

Over half of those surveyed wanted additional revenue directed to early childhood education.

Chris Turner from the Los Angeles Urban League addressed LAUSD’s lack of representation in Sacramento. “From all the districts in the state, L.A. is the only district who does not have a spokesperson vying for them in Sacramento,” said Turner. “That’s scary to me.”

The presentation ended with a question: “Who wants to join CLASS’s mission in improving equity and access for under-served students in Los Angeles?”

Of course every hand in the room shot up and hundreds of information cards were filled out and handed in with promises of support and action.

But another question, not as easily answered, was also asked. “How?” “Can you give more specifics?” One audience member asked. “Are you working with decision makers in LAUSD?”

Questioned another “What about the schools in youth correctional facilities who aren’t represented by LAUSD? How do we help those students?”

These types of questions as to how exactly CLASS planned to achieve its impressive, overarching goal continued and leaders of the fledgling organization, started about six months ago, did not have specific answers.

“We are starting the conversation on how to build the framework for this group,” said Turner.

Though some attendees asked if CLASS was just another education organization attempting to make sweeping changes in a school district wrapped tightly with red tape and bureaucracy, its members assured its fellow educators that there group was a different story.

“What’s different now is timing,” Nyamekye told the LA School Report. “There is a lot of grassroots energy in L.A. right now. Parents are readily getting involved all over the district and we are harnessing that grassroots power.”

Though representatives from LAUSD hesitated to answer directly if they believed that CLASS would really make a difference, Pedro Salcido, a legislative liaison for the district, said the vast amount of people involved under one name was a positive sign.

“They have a clear set of priorities and one vision,” said Salcido. “Many of these organizations have been around for a while and have come together to do good work.”

“When you get this many people in the same room for one thing, that’s always a powerful thing,” he added.

Members of CLASS were even more optimistic that this coalition was different — and could make a difference.

“We are moving beyond the traditional education space,” said Patterson.

Ryan Smith from United Way agreed. “Including teacher advocacy organizations is a new thing,” he added.

Another difference, he noted, was that CLASS’s goal is to “create policy, not merely respond to it.”

“We’re starting discussions now about different advocacy campaigns to bring more resources to the most underprivileged students,” said Smith.

The energetic launch ended on a high note, with many educators shaking hands, smiling and lingering in small groups.

Getting hundreds of educators in a room is a good thing. An even better thing is if CLASS can turn those conversations into powerful actions. We will wait and see.

Previous posts: Local Groups Join Up for School Improvements; What Do Ed Leaders Want From LA’s Next Mayor?; What Next for the Coalition for School Reform?