Birmingham Community Charter High School Grand Opening

BY KAREN PACKER

The band played, cheerleaders cheered, and a stadium full of students and staff joined in the celebration under early morning gray skies as Birmingham High School began the 2009-2010 school year August 19 with its new charter status and a new name: Birmingham Community Charter High School (BCCHS).

From a podium on the fifty yard-line, Principal/CEO Marsha Coates welcomed the crowd, and student body president Melissa Alvarez introduced the roster of speakers. Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Congressman Brad Sherman, Tamar Galatzan (who serves as both Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney and LAUSD school board member and is currently campaigning for City Council District 2), and keynote speaker Jack O’Connell, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, each took turns presenting certificates, proclamations and other tokens of acknowledgement.

“This is a school that really does meet the new R’s in public education: rigor, relevance, and relationships,” commended O’Connell who was once a school teacher.

The crowd broke into applause when Congressman Sherman handed Coates and Alvarez an American flag flown over the capitol during the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

The speakers also expressed their anticipation of community collaboration and their expectations of high student achievement. Blue and gold balloons surrounded her and swirled overhead as Galatzan spoke of her involvement with the charter conversion process of her alma mater and issued a challenge to the students.

“There’s a part of me that’s a little sad to say goodbye to Birmingham High School, but there’s a bigger part of me that’s so excited about the undertaking that you guys are about to start on,” said Galatzan. “The process by which this [new charter] school started was not an easy one. I want you to promise me that you will prove all of those naysayers wrong.”

It was April 2008 when the original charter petition was filed, and July 2009 when it was approved by the LAUSD School Board. The five year charter improves flexibility in academic, professional and budgetary decisions and gives students, faculty, parents, and community members more control over school governance.

Some students are still uncertain of the changes coming their way.  Nataja Jennings, a junior, expressed her concern over the controversy surrounding the conversion process which caused a split between the new charter school and the Daniel Pearl journalism program that shares the same campus but opted out of the charter. “It’s really confusing to me. I don’t understand how the school will change,” she said.

One anticipated change has already taken place. The August 19 start date of the fall semester is three weeks earlier than usual and will allow students to finish the semester and finals before the December holidays.

Roslyn Riboh, a counselor in the Social Justice Academy is certain more positive changes are coming. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for the entire community to collaborate more effectively. Now we all have a voice.”

Karen Packer is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, but now calls the San Fernando Valley home. She has spent the last 15 years working as a freelance writer, teacher, and publicist.

Galatzan’s Task Force meeting on LAUSD budget woes

BY ERIKA OBLEA

With the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) facing uncertain funds from state and the federal stimulus package, transportation cuts, and increasing class sizes, San Fernando Valley parents, teachers, and principals gathered June 27 at the West Valley Special Education Center in Van Nuys for a Valley Schools Task Force meeting in order to strategize for solutions.

According to Tamar Galatzan, LAUSD board member who represents San Fernando Valley schools and who organized the meeting, the gathering was meant to discuss with her constituents about LAUSD’s cuts to certain programs. She also designed the meeting to help her constituents lobby for education solutions from their national and state elected officials.

“I’ve found a lot more helpful is if you can come up with other ideas to solve the problem,” Galtzan said.

Attendees at the morning meeting did just that. Sitting in a circle with Galatzan leading the discussion, those frustrated with LAUSD confronted each other and their district representative about possible solutions to the financial decisions that were made to alleviate the projected $143.3 million budget deficit for 2009-2010.

Among many of the cuts that were made for 2009-2010 that many felt needed to be solved included the increasing class sizes and the limited transportation means for students.

Galatzan admitted that only providing busing for students who live more than three miles away from school rather than the previous two mile requirement has affected student and parent schedules.

A more difficult issue she mentioned was the increased student to teacher ratio of 24:1. Galatzan recalled a time she visited a Millikan Middle School classroom and witnessed students having to get out of their seats in order to simply open and close the door.

Nobel Middle school parent Lori Yalem, also voiced her concern that the high student to teacher ratio not only affects her children’s comfort but also the quality of her children’s education.

“If they group just four more kids in a class, it makes a difference from having 25 minutes for reading to having 15 minutes for reading,” Yalem said. “That’s a lot.”

Some solutions Galatzan suggested was for the state to implement a parcel tax, money from which will go towards keeping class sizes smaller.

Parents also discussed the possibility of the state giving the school district more flexibility on how it manages the categorical grants it receives from the state. With flexibility, the parents hope that local school districts will not have to cut programs in order to meet the state’s requirements to receive funds.

“We’re trying to figure out a way the keep budget cuts from school sites,” said Suzanne Snowden whose children attend Nobel Middle School and Castlebay Lane Elementary School.

With this goal in mind, Yalam volunteered to set up an appointment with Congressman Brad Sherman who represents the San Fernando Valley to discuss such solutions with the representative.

Nevertheless, all those at the meeting realized that it was the students’ voices that would be the most important when persuading the government.

After holding a contest that asked students to create a one minute video that explained how budget cuts have affected their education, Galatzan said she plans to send the winning video entries to state officials.

“Maybe hearing the message from the kids directly – it will sink in,” she said.

Screened at the meeting, the grand prize winning video from El Camino Real High School seems to have made that message clear.

While the camera from the winning video slowly scans across an overcrowded classroom, these words gradually fill the screen: “It’s about growing class sizes…It’s about priorities. It’s about time.”

Erika  Oblea is a rising sophomore at the University of California, Berkeley where she is studying Political Science and Statistics. When she’s not cramming for exams at the library, she’s reporting on businesses in Berkeley for The Daily Californian. She is a graduate of Chaminade and has lived in the Valley ever since she  could remember –and could probably recite the exits off the 101 backwards and forwards.