History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
At Manual Arts High, same goals but different methods
- 05-17-2011
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Column by Sandy Banks/Los Angeles Times
John Santos bristles when outsiders buy into the broad-brush image of Manual Arts High as a failing school. "Why don't you take the time to get the entire story?" Santos challenged me in an email response to my column last Saturday detailing challenges at the school in a working-class neighborhood a stone's throw from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The campus numbers don't look good: Only half of ninth-graders make it to graduation, and 60% of students test "below basic" on skills. But in his collection of classrooms in a corner of the campus, Santos sees ordinary kids blossom in extraordinary ways. And the rising tide of school reform, aimed at lifting every boat, feels to him like a menacing storm. (more...)
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