INGLEWOOD, May 26, 2008 – "Closing the Achievement Gap and Working Together for the Future" was the theme of last week's Education Summit, hosted by Assemblymember Curren Price.   More than 120 educators, administrators and education leaders met at Crozier Middle School to strategically discuss the issues that face California's minority students.  Almost half of all African American and Latino students fail to graduate from high school on time and African American and Latino 12th graders are reading and performing math skills at the 8th grade level.
 
 "We know that our student's achievement is directly dependent on the resources and support that we provide," said Assemblymember Price.  "We also know that there are social and economic issues that impact student performance and this summit is an important starting point to developing solutions."

Inglewood School Board Member, Ms. Trina Williams, served as Mistress of Ceremonies.  Dr. Pamela Short-Powell, Superintendent of the Inglewood Unified School District, led the group of panelists that also included:  Dr. Julie Mendoza - Southern California Director of ARCHES; Dr. Carol Raines Brown - Inglewood Unified School District; Dr. Ann Phillips - Lawndale School District; Dr. Abimbola Ajala - Principal of Compton's Bursch Elementary School; Ms. Pamela Gibbs - Director of Government Relations for LACOE; and Dr. Reginald Sirls - Inglewood Unified School District.  State Superintendent of Public Schools, Jack O'Connell was the keynote speaker.

Dr. Julie Mendoza reminded participants, "We we must do more than just talk about what’s wrong with our educational systems, we must not only recognize the scope of the problem, but also have the will to act." 

Participants discussed the looming budget cuts and how they would impact vital education resources.  Of paramount concern to participants was the failure of the "No Child Left Behind" Act and the effect of related standardized tests.    Compton's Charles Bursch Elementary School served as a model for the summit.   The school has experienced one of the most remarkable turnabouts in public education today, dramatically raising their API scores from the mid-400s to almost 900 in just a few short years, dispelling the myth that poor and minority children cannot learn or excel academically.  

Assemblymember Price discussed legislation he is carrying on behalf of the Los Angeles County Office of Education.  AB 2438 would streamline the exit criteria under the state accountability system, allowing schools that have performed well to exit the school improvement program and focus already scarce resources on the schools that need the help most.  Participants agreed that there will be another Summit in the near future to assess progress.

"Public education is supposed to be the great equalizer in our society," said Price.  "We have to work together to make sure it is, in fact, equal for all students."