Discriminatory Distribution of Qualified GATE Program Placements Within LBUSD LBUSD Long Beach Unified School District GATE discrimination

Discriminatory GATE Program Placement Within LBUSD


Heartwell Park Heartwell Golf Course Long Beach City College Pacific Coast Campus Skylinks Golf Course Long Beach City College Liberal Arts Campus El Dorado Park 'West' El Dorado Nature Center Park El Dorado Regional Park Bixby Village Golf Course Long Beach City & Park 9-Hole Golf Courses El Dorado Golf Course Lakewood Country Club Virginia Country Club Burroughs [2004 Base API = 776] Chavez [API data not published] California State University at Long Beach Avalon (K-12) [2004 Base API = 692] Avalon (K-12) [2004 Base API = 692] Two Harbors [No Base API (Flag 4)] Avalon (K-12) [2004 Base API = 692] Edison [2004 Base API = 677] Washington [2004 Base API = 600] New City Charter [2004 Base API = 580] Roosevelt [2004 Base API = 736] Polytechnic Academy for Accelerated Learning [2004 Base API: See Poly] Polytechnic [2004 Base API = 696] Renaissance [2004 Base API = 475] International [2004 Base API = 725] Pacific Learning Center [2004 Base API = 377] Stevenson [2004 Base API = 713] Constellation [2004 Base API = 578] Franklin [2004 Base API = 585] Lincoln [2004 Base API = 681] Burbank [2004 Base API = 724] Lee [2004 Base API = 674] Willard [2004 Base API = 699] Naples [2004 Base API = 892] Mann [2004 Base API = 760] Fremont [2004 Base API = 877] Rogers [2004 Base API = 798] Lowell [2004 Base API = 914] Jefferson [2004 Base API = 604] Wilson [2004 Base API = 710] Bryant [2004 Base API = 742] Kettering [2004 Base API = 804] Hill[2004 Base API = 746] Stanford [2004 Base API = 801] Gant [2004 Base API = 911] Tincher (K-8) [2004 Base API = 765] Prisk [2004 Base API = 808] Emerson [2004 Base API = 772] Millikan [2004 Base API = 693] Bixby [2004 Base API = 732] Tucker [2004 Base API = 731] Buffum [2004 Base API = 742] Alvarado [2004 Base API = 800] Whittier [2004 Base API = 691] Butler (K-8) [2004 Base API = 642] Signal Hill [2004 Base API = 780] Burnett[2004 Base API = 694] Lafayette [2004 Base API = 705] Robinson (K-8) [2004 Base API = 760] Birney [2004 Base API = 743] Savannah (T-9) [2004 Base API = 599] Cabrillo High [2004 Base API = 539] Reid Continuation [2004 Base API = 351] Hudson (K-8) [2004 Base API = 752] Garfield [2004 Base API = 693] Stephens [2004 Base API = 629] Muir [2004 Base API = 695] Webster [2004 Base API = 664] Carver [2004 Base API = 765] Burcham [2004 Base API = 681] Marshall [2004 Base API = 693] Newcomb (K-8) [2004 Base API = 821] Cubberley (K-8) [2004 Base API = 794] DeMille [2004 Base API = 656] Keller [2004 Base API = 732] Henry [2004 Base API = 711] Monroe [2004 Base API = 716] Cleveland [2004 Base API = 746] MacArthur [2004 Base API = 730] Lakewood [2004 Base API = 708] Bancroft [2004 Base API = 766] Twain [2004 Base API = 832] Hoover [2004 Base API = 738] Madison [2004 Base API = 794] Longfellow [2004 Base API = 842] Hughes [2004 Base API = 792] Educational Partnership [2004 Base API = 453] Los Cerritos [2004 Base API = 818] Gompers [2004 Base API = 749] Sutter [2004 Base API = 702] Addams [2004 Base API = 710] Lindbergh [2004 Base API = 681] Barton [2004 Base API = 685] Riley [2004 Base API = 700] Holmes [2004 Base API = 710] Harte [2004 Base API = 742] Grant [2004 Base API = 718] McKinley [2004 Base API = 657] Hamilton [2004 Base API = 611] Powell [2004 Base API = 683] Jordan High [2004 Base API = 562] Jordan (T-9) [2004 Base API: See Jordan] King [2004 Base API = 734] California Academy of Mathematics and Science [2004 Base API = 941] Hi-Hill [API data not puiblished] District 1 - Mary Stanton, President District 2 - Felton Williams, Ph.D.,Board Member District 3 - Suja Lowenthal, DPD,Vice President District 4 - Jon Meyer, Board Member District 5 - Jim Choura, Board Member MAP IMAGE ~ 295646 bytes



Purpose of This Document:

Why does this document exist?

To put it simply, this particular page is a result of my attempt to find a Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) GATE program school close to our residence; because we had been told that our child's school would not provide her an education appropriate to her needs. It was further stated by the school principal that, because our daughter was the only GATE-identified child in her school of attendance, we had a choice between two schools; one is twice the distance from our home; and the other is almost seven-and-a-half times as far from our home as her present school. We would have to apply to the schools and hope for our child's acceptance. We would also have to walk or drive our child to the school that accepted her.

We have since discovered that we, as well as the other parents of GATE-identified children, were lied to...OFTEN.

The easiest way to find out where all the GATE schools in the district happen to be is to take the district map and add the information I needed--information the district never provided on their version of the school locator map--which I did. It was during this process of making my own life easier that I discovered that there is a profound difference in the educational services provided to people who live in certain areas of the district versus people who live in other district regions. The areas that I identified as being deprived of equal access to educational services happen to be the same areas of highest poverty within LBUSD.

This document exists to inform others of the pattern of racial discrimination that I have observed in the delivery of educational services by LBUSD.

This web site, and its resources, are intended to inform and empower the parents of children who have suffered the deprivation of a Free, Appropriate, Public Education.

It is also intended to provide a point of unification and communication between the diverse racial/ethnic groups of this district; the end purpose being to confront LBUSD with their discriminatory conduct, bar LBUSD from continued and future discriminatory conduct and, to bring this issue before a state or federal judge--should LBUSD make this necessary.


To Whom This Document is Directed (Intended Audience):

Who am I talking to?

I originally sat down to write this page with the intent of 'speaking' to the parents of GATE-identified children who live in the North Long Beach or West Long Beach areas. That has changed.

As a result of researching numerous stores of information, to develop the reasoning presented in this document, I now believe that my original focus should shift to addressing the parents of children attending any Long Beach school which provides instruction to any combination of grade-levels in the Kindergarten through 8th grade-span.

I'm not talking to the School Board or to the Superintendent of Schools. They've already been here and will probably be back.

I'm also not talking to lawyers, although they will, eventually, be dealing with the contents of this web site.

I'm talking to you.

I don't know how familiar you are with the various terms and phrases associated with any number of professions, so I'll do my best to abandon the use of the majority of those typing savers. The professionals know enough to be forgiving of this; because it's more important that the issues be understood by all.
As a result, the discussion that you find here will be of a more casual nature than you would find in court documents or in a college or university course, so relax. It's just us.


Discussion:

You can tell that the district is proud of the educational services they provide our youth when you read the following on the LBUSD web site: Hold it! All students?

Pardon-me-very-much for being so bold as to observe that the map, up there, doesn't agree with the implication of parity, or equality, in LBUSD's mission statement. Outside of a small group of people--out of the many I've been forced to deal with over the years--who in LBUSD actually believes this?

Just give me a second...I'm wracking my brain to figure-out exactly what this sense of pride is central to. Could it be providing GATE program placements which function--even partially--as a 'value-added' return on a homeowner's property taxes? If so, which homeowners? (As if we can't form a reasonable suspicion.)

OKAY. Maybe I'm just rushing to judgment here--as I'm sure more than a couple of you are murmuring to yourselves--so let's look at the facts.

Looking at the above map, it's pretty clear that Long Beach Unified School District does provide GATE program services to the students attending grades Kindergarten through 8th within the school district; but let's consider this a bit further: Blue rectangles, my friend, represent Gifted and Talented Education programs; provided to the children attending a particular school. Gifted and Talented Education programs, you see, represent educational services provided by the school district. Educational services which have every appearance of being allocated within some sort of discriminatory context.

Let's examine how many of these GATE campuses we have in each zip code by simple tally. We'll toss-in the GATE/EXCEL and district-defined 'Gifted' schools as well; but I'll focus primarily upon the blue rectangles which represent GATE-only programs--at least for the time being--because that's where the bucks are being spent.

Zip Code # of GATE Programs # of GATE/EXCEL Programs # of 'Gifted' Programs
90712 1 1 0
90713 0 0 0
90802 0 0 0
90803 1 0 1
90804 0 0 0
90805 0 0 0
90806 0 1 1
90807 1 0 1
90808 4 1 0
90810 0 1 2
90813 0 0 0
90814 1 0 0
90815 5 1 1


Hmmmm...Given what I have in mind, I should probably flip that table on its side for you. In terms of visual continuity, it'll ease the transitions to the other tables of information that I have for you.

  90712 90713 90802 90803 90804 90805 90806 90807 90808 90810 90813 90814 90815
# of GATE Programs 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 1 5
# of GATE/EXCEL Programs 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1
# of 'Gifted' Programs 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 1


Much better.

Now, just a glance tells me that 90808 and 90815 are the preferred zip code population areas for whatever selection criteria the district is using for GATE program placements; so, maybe we'd better look to see how desirable the property in those zip codes is...Ya think?

Yup....back to the map...
...and we can immediately see that 90815 has the CSULB neighborhoods; the most expensive of these being those homes North and East of the college campus, East of Bellflower Boulevard, and South of the 405 Freeway. Another rectangle of 'good neighborhood is East of Palo Verde, West of the San Gabriel River, South of Spring Street, and take it on down to the 90815 boundary.

Looking at 90808, we can see the bit of land to the East of Lakewood Country Club. It has Bellflower Boulevard as a traffic-flow barrier to the East. Del Amo Boulevard does the same to the North, and you have LBCC and Heartwell Park to the South. I've been there. Nice neighborhood, BTW.

We also have the chunk of land that sits North of Eldorado Golf Course, with the San Gabriel River covering its back, so to speak. This is another patch of prime hunting ground for realtors. Big-comish territory.

Finally, look how Newcomb is hiding over there in that oasis of land that sits between the 605 Freeway, Coyote Creek & Norwalk Boulevard. Wardlow Road is a natural barrier to hordes of undesirables from the North and West; because Claremore Avenue provides thoroughfare between this neighborhood island and Wardlow on the West, and El Dorado Drive yields ingress/egress to and from Wardlow on the East. Claremore Avenue, Marna Avenue and Lilly Park Avenue are the only other ways in or out on the East and South, and these are spread-out fairly well. It's a pretty good bet that, if somebody is "just passing through," they're lost, looking to buy in the area, or casing the area for robbery potential.

The district doesn't want you to do this; which is good enough reason for me to tell you to do it; click on Newcomb to open-up the SARC for that school. Look at the middle table on page 5. The CBEDS racial/ethnic category data for this school shows them as having a 47.4% White (not Hispanic) enrollment. Do the same for Cubberly, and you'll find a CBEDS of 54.1% White (not Hispanic) enrollment. Be-bop back down to 90815 and do the same thing for Gant (the school right on the North-side of CSULB)...CBEDS says 61.9% White (not Hispanic) enrollment. Prisk: 52.0% White (not Hispanic) enrollment. Stanford: 47.9% White (not Hispanic) enrollment. Do not forget that.

Tincher, Bancroft, Twain and Madison are obviously situated within prime real estate areas. Their positions relative to the university, college and country club make this a matter of self-evident fact.

Down in Belmont Shores, you'll find Lowell, and just to the North-West is Fremont. These are very nice, very expensive, neighborhoods in their own right.

This leaves Longfellow. Longfellow is is in Bixby Knolls, undeniably an area of high affluency situated in close logical proximity to the Virginia Country Club Estates.

So far, it looks like GATE schools like high-dollar neighborhoods, and GATE schools might be skewed toward the melanin-challenged among us. Maybe we should amuse ourselves with the Census data...after a brief word of caution.

ZCTAs
You'll find various levels of detail available for census data requests, with Zip Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) being one of the smallest, geographic areas for which the general public can request statistics. This is, of course, for confidentiality reasons; after all, who really wants the whole world knowing your grandma is Purple, and where y'all live? To get information for smaller regions of the area of interest, you will have to apply for access to the Confidential Census Data Sets. Access fees also apply.

One of the problems in relying on ZCTA data is that many folks confuse them with the zip codes defined by the USPS. They don't strictly represent the same geographic areas. This will introduce some minor geographic shift into our data, but will still allow us to form a general picture of the state of diversity in the areas of concern. A second problem inherent in examining ZCTA data is that, by virtue of the relatively large geographic regions involved (several neighborhood units are represented by a given ZCTA), we'll probably see something that suggests that the ZCTA region itself is more diverse than those specific neighborhoods served by a particular school. This is easily resolved by accessing the confidential census data sets, and creating statistics on smaller geographic units.

Keeping this in mind, let's take a look anyway:

  90712 5-Digit ZCTA 90713 5-Digit ZCTA 90802 5-Digit ZCTA 90803 5-Digit ZCTA 90804 5-Digit ZCTA 90805 5-Digit ZCTA 90806 5-Digit ZCTA 90807 5-Digit ZCTA 90808 5-Digit ZCTA 90810 5-Digit ZCTA 90813 5-Digit ZCTA 90814 5-Digit ZCTA 90815 5-Digit ZCTA
Total: 30,182 27,656 38,731 31,174 43,264 91,456 49,516 31,819 37,062 35,627 62,941 19,198 39,087
     White alone 19,402 21,352 18,331 26,807 16,758 27,300 13,284 17,340 30,044 8,734 15,988 12,799 29,267
     Black or African American alone 2,382 895 6,844 557 7,257 22,208 9,909 4,898 1,132 5,560 8,480 1,654 1,643
     American Indian and Alaska Native alone 192 147 282 143 304 959 482 203 266 279 585 307 154
     Asian alone 3,413 2,030 2,034 1,544 6,521 9,635 8,603 4,317 2,173 8,059 9,702 1,362 3,769
     Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone 174 120 212 90 107 2,052 878 85 46 1,057 624 77 110
     Some other race alone 2,557 1,782 8,909 942 9,385 24,670 13,148 2,823 1,570 9,604 24,206 2,084 1,888
     Two or more races 2,062 1,330 2,119 1,091 2,932 4,632 3,212 2,153 1,831 2,334 3,356 915 2,256


Here we have what is known as the SF-3/P.6 data component. This means that we used the 2000 Census Summary File #3, to give us a picture of P.6 data (which is Racial/Ethnic information); for each ZCTA area. Basically, we're looking at racial totals for each approximate zip code area on the map above.

Looking at the data, you'll probably find your eyes twitching a bit, and notice your grey cells doing the usual gymnastics as you try to crunch the numbers on the fly. I'll make things a bit easier on you by telling you that the focus will narrow-down somewhat; and I'll give you the above statistics in a form that most folks are more accustomed to dealing with--percentages--and I'll highlight any percentage that exceeds 50.000%.

  90712 5-Digit ZCTA 90713 5-Digit ZCTA 90802 5-Digit ZCTA 90803 5-Digit ZCTA 90804 5-Digit ZCTA 90805 5-Digit ZCTA 90806 5-Digit ZCTA 90807 5-Digit ZCTA 90808 5-Digit ZCTA 90810 5-Digit ZCTA 90813 5-Digit ZCTA 90814 5-Digit ZCTA 90815 5-Digit ZCTA
     White alone 64.283% 77.108% 47.329% 85.992% 38.734% 29.850% 26.828% 54.496% 81.060% 24.515% 25.402% 66.668% 74.877%
     Black or African American alone 7.892% 3.236% 17.671% 1.787% 16.774% 24.283% 20.012% 15.393% 3.054% 15.606% 13.473% 8.615% 4.203%
     American Indian and Alaska Native alone 0.636% 0.532% 0.728% 0.459% 0.703% 1.049% 0.973% 0.638% 0.718% 0.783% 0.929% 1.599% 0.394%
     Asian alone 11.308% 7.340% 5.252% 4.953% 15.073% 10.535% 17.374% 13.567% 5.863% 22.620% 15.414% 7.094% 9.643%
     Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone 0.577% 0.434% 0.547% 0.289% 0.247 2.244% 1.773% 0.267% 0.124% 2.967% 0.991% 0.401% 0.281%
     Some other race alone 8.472% 6.443% 23.002% 3.022% 21.692% 26.975% 26.553% 8.872% 4.236% 26.957% 38.458% 10.855% 4.830%
     Two or more races 6.832% 4.809% 5.471% 3.500% 6.777% 5.065% 6.487% 6.766% 4.940% 6.551% 5.332% 4.766% 5.772%


Frankly, I'm completely blown-away by the percentage results. I simply did not expect that we would find 7 ZCTAs, which are clear-majority Caucasian population areas, to such a marked degree.

Now...what if we highlight those "non-white" population percentages that exceed 20.000%?

  90712 5-Digit ZCTA 90713 5-Digit ZCTA 90802 5-Digit ZCTA 90803 5-Digit ZCTA 90804 5-Digit ZCTA 90805 5-Digit ZCTA 90806 5-Digit ZCTA 90807 5-Digit ZCTA 90808 5-Digit ZCTA 90810 5-Digit ZCTA 90813 5-Digit ZCTA 90814 5-Digit ZCTA 90815 5-Digit ZCTA
     White alone 64.283% 77.108% 47.329% 85.992% 38.734% 29.850% 26.828% 54.496% 81.060% 24.515% 25.402% 66.668% 74.877%
     Black or African American alone 7.892% 3.236% 17.671% 1.787% 16.774% 24.283% 20.012% 15.393% 3.054% 15.606% 13.473% 8.615% 4.203%
     American Indian and Alaska Native alone 0.636% 0.532% 0.728% 0.459% 0.703% 1.049% 0.973% 0.638% 0.718% 0.783% 0.929% 1.599% 0.394%
     Asian alone 11.308% 7.340% 5.252% 4.953% 15.073% 10.535% 17.374% 13.567% 5.863% 22.620% 15.414% 7.094% 9.643%
     Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone 0.577% 0.434% 0.547% 0.289% 0.247 2.244% 1.773% 0.267% 0.124% 2.967% 0.991% 0.401% 0.281%
     Some other race alone 8.472% 6.443% 23.002% 3.022% 21.692% 26.975% 26.553% 8.872% 4.236% 26.957% 38.458% 10.855% 4.830%
     Two or more races 6.832% 4.809% 5.471% 3.500% 6.777% 5.065% 6.487% 6.766% 4.940% 6.551% 5.332% 4.766% 5.772%


Now, for some of you, this is like watching a train wreck in slow-motion; and you're consoling yourself with fantasies of the many different ways in which I might meet my demise. (By all means, continue.) For others of you...the ones I'm really presenting this information to...I think I'm beginning to get your attention in a positive way.

Of course, when any "non-white" ethnic group breaks the 1/5 barrier, we see the Caucasian population dipping below 50.000%.

I wonder how this will compare to the distribution of GATE program placements?

  90712 5-Digit ZCTA 90713 5-Digit ZCTA 90802 5-Digit ZCTA 90803 5-Digit ZCTA 90804 5-Digit ZCTA 90805 5-Digit ZCTA 90806 5-Digit ZCTA 90807 5-Digit ZCTA 90808 5-Digit ZCTA 90810 5-Digit ZCTA 90813 5-Digit ZCTA 90814 5-Digit ZCTA 90815 5-Digit ZCTA
     White alone 64.283% 77.108% 47.329% 85.992% 38.734% 29.850% 26.828% 54.496% 81.060% 24.515% 25.402% 66.668% 74.877%
     Black or African American alone 7.892% 3.236% 17.671% 1.787% 16.774% 24.283% 20.012% 15.393% 3.054% 15.606% 13.473% 8.615% 4.203%
     American Indian and Alaska Native alone 0.636% 0.532% 0.728% 0.459% 0.703% 1.049% 0.973% 0.638% 0.718% 0.783% 0.929% 1.599% 0.394%
     Asian alone 11.308% 7.340% 5.252% 4.953% 15.073% 10.535% 17.374% 13.567% 5.863% 22.620% 15.414% 7.094% 9.643%
     Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone 0.577% 0.434% 0.547% 0.289% 0.247 2.244% 1.773% 0.267% 0.124% 2.967% 0.991% 0.401% 0.281%
     Some other race alone 8.472% 6.443% 23.002% 3.022% 21.692% 26.975% 26.553% 8.872% 4.236% 26.957% 38.458% 10.855% 4.830%
     Two or more races 6.832% 4.809% 5.471% 3.500% 6.777% 5.065% 6.487% 6.766% 4.940% 6.551% 5.332% 4.766% 5.772%
     # of GATE Programs 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 1 5
     # of GATE/EXCEL Programs 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1
     # of 'Gifted' Programs 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 1


Now, let's compress that vertically, a little bit.
We're removing the district-defined 'Gifted' programs because the district admits that these are not equal to GATE (You'll see that later on).
We're also removing those GATE/EXCEL programs because at least 3 of those are not considered to be GATE programs by the district. If the majority of GATE/EXCEL programs cannot be considered to be GATE, then the other 2 can't be considered to be GATE--if we're going to be consistent--can they? (We'll touch-back on this later.)
We'll shade those no-GATE program cells; and have ourselves a little chat about what we're looking at, shall we?

  90712 5-Digit ZCTA 90713 5-Digit ZCTA 90802 5-Digit ZCTA 90803 5-Digit ZCTA 90804 5-Digit ZCTA 90805 5-Digit ZCTA 90806 5-Digit ZCTA 90807 5-Digit ZCTA 90808 5-Digit ZCTA 90810 5-Digit ZCTA 90813 5-Digit ZCTA 90814 5-Digit ZCTA 90815 5-Digit ZCTA
     White alone 64.283% 77.108% 47.329% 85.992% 38.734% 29.850% 26.828% 54.496% 81.060% 24.515% 25.402% 66.668% 74.877%
     Black or African American alone 7.892% 3.236% 17.671% 1.787% 16.774% 24.283% 20.012% 15.393% 3.054% 15.606% 13.473% 8.615% 4.203%
     Asian alone 11.308% 7.340% 5.252% 4.953% 15.073% 10.535% 17.374% 13.567% 5.863% 22.620% 15.414% 7.094% 9.643%
     Some other race alone 8.472% 6.443% 23.002% 3.022% 21.692% 26.975% 26.553% 8.872% 4.236% 26.957% 38.458% 10.855% 4.830%
     # of GATE Programs 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 1 5


Of course, the correlation between lower socio-economic status and ethnicity has not been disproved since the 1970's; and we can see that very correlation in the following table, which now includes poverty level data (Census Bureau SF-3/P.87 data, 1999 income) which is expressed as percentage of total population.

Here, we've highlighted the below poverty level populations which equal or exceed 20% of the total population for that ZCTA: