Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Los Angeles, visited LAUSD’s John Muir Middle School in South L.A. on Monday to observe its Black Student Achievement Plan (BSAP) and highlight the need to expand such programs even as state and federal budget challenges loom.
The Los Angeles Unified School District’s BSAP is one of the nation’s largest educational programs dedicated to closing the racial academic achievement gap and and promoting the social and emotional wellbeing of Black students.
“I believe that the work that is happening here should be the norm and not the expectation,” said Kamlager-Dove. “How do we continue to partner and build bridges and create a networking infrastructure so that L.A. Unified does not have to do all of this work alone? That is why we are here today.”
At LAUSD, only 19% of Black students met the state’s learning standards in mathematics compared to 55% of white students, according to the latest standardized test results released in October 2023. When it comes to English learning standards, only 30% of Black students met the mark compared to 65% of white students.
“Their capacity and ability is equal; the results currently aren’t,” said LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho. “I’ve never met broken kids. I’ve seen systems that are broken and often break their dreams and their aspirations for their possibilities.”
The Board of Education approved the BSAP in February 2021 in response to community pressure following George Floyd’s death and the subsequent resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. The program was funded, in part, by slashing the school police budget.
It currently receives $120 million in annual funding to provide tutoring, counseling and college prep programs for Black students. In addition, it funds school climate coaches, whose job it is to address racial issues and conflict on campuses, and partnerships with community organizations to enhance campus safety without police involvement.
Although the program has garnered much praise, it is facing both funding and legal challenges, said LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho.
Meanwhile, efforts to replicate similar initiatives and increase funding in school districts across the nation are facing strong pushback in Washington D.C., said Kamlager-Dove.
“There’s a minority of individuals that I work with in this Congress that do not understand, or maybe they do understand the importance and the value of public education and that’s why they want to dismantle it,” said Kamlager-Dove. “The work that is happening with the Black Student Achievement Plan is an affront their ignorance and their efforts to dehumanize Black students and Black families and public education.”
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, for his part, said the district will continue to expand BSAP even as it faces an uncertain financial future.
The state is projecting a $73 billion deficit in its 2024 to 2025 budget, which could lead to a reduction in school funding. In addition, LAUSD is grappling with the expiration of $5.8 million in COVID-era federal emergency funding this year, while inflation and employee pay raises are driving its costs upwards.
Related links
How can Los Angeles bring more Black men into teaching? Build them a village
LAUSD’s budget: bountiful this year, but potentially barren the next
Critics say LAUSD is too slow in spending funds aimed at Black students
LAUSD strips $25 million from LASPD, redirects it to help Black students
LAUSD board votes to cut school police budget by $25 million
“We increased the funding for BSAP from $100 million annually to $120 million,” said Carvalho. “That will continue to next year and I promise you that the year after that we will maintain or increase that level of funding, despite the threatening deficit levels that we hear out of Sacramento.”
BSAP is also facing a legal challenge. In July 2023, a group called Parents Defending Education, filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education, claiming the program violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment because it specifically supports Black students and ignores other racial groups.
Superintendent Carvalho and the district does not believe this is a valid challenge to the program’s legality.
“We take pride in pushing the needle and creating intellectual confrontation with those that do not see the need to appropriately fund groups of students who have historically been marginalized and their performance has historically fallen behind,” he said. “That is why, despite the legal challenges, we will stay the course.”
Dr. Robert Whitman, educational transformation officer at LAUSD, shared some of the positive outcomes of the BSAP achievement plan so far.
For example, 1,000 more Black students are being referred to gifted and talented education programs compared to a year ago and over 10,826 honors courses are taken by Black students this year compared to 853 courses a year ago, he said. LAUSD also offers more AP African American Studies classes than any other district in the nation.
In addition, BSAP has sent over 1,500 students — many of whom had never set foot on an airplane or college campus — to visit historically black colleges and universities and Atlanta and in Georgia.
“We’re moving in the right direction,” said Whitman. “We always remind ourselves and we have a long way to go, but we’re proud of the work that’s currently happening.”
