The report::  BCSD was chartered in 1882 and is now the largest non-unified elementary school district in the state of California, with an enrollment of 25,810 students. BCSD covers 158 square miles and has 43 schools. There are over 4,000 employees in the District.

Me:  WOW!  In the whole state of California....the largest yet....."non-unified" kinda gets me though.  Some schools do good, some don't, is that what it means? 

The report:  BCSD does not post notices of upcoming Board meetings in the “Get Involved” section of the local newspaper although other school districts do so for each meeting. The citizens and parents need to be more involved with the Board meetings and have their voices heard and they need to be aware of, attend, and observe public deliberations by the Board of Education.

ME:  Maybe they should....but not enough people/parents are interested in their kids academics., unfortunately. 

The report:  According to the State Academic Performance Index (API) results released March 27, 2007, 32 of 40 schools rank in the bottom 30 percent of schools statewide and 38 of 40 schools did not meet their state API target for 2006-2007. There are three other schools in the District that are exempt from testing and their scores are not published. BCSD is in the second year of Program Improvement, and half of the District’s schools are in Program Improvement sanctions through the that receive Federal Title I funds and do not achieve Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) targets for two consecutive years are placed in Program Improvement and must implement additional federal requirements. If a school in Program Improvement continues to fail to meet its AYP for five years, the District must initiate plans for alternative governance of the school, including monitoring by the state. In BCSD, two schools are presently under California Department of Education and KCSOS control. Based upon the latest published test scores, several other schools may be under alternative governance next year. One school out of 40 scored at or above the state performance target of 800 in 2006 (Downtown School), although many were close to their school site API targets. Five schools in the District scored a ten which is the highest rank when compared to other similar schools in the state. These schools are Casa Loma, Frank West, Franklin, Besse Owens Gifted, and Harding.

Me:  Both my kids go to Harding and Bessie Owens Gifted.  YEAH, ME!  Too bad the other schools can't perform the same...why is that?

The report:  At high minority and high poverty schools, teacher turnover typically runs at 10% annually.” These figures seem consistent with, and support the Committee’s findings regarding BCSD. Some teachers are leaving BCSD because they feel they do not have the support of the administration to seek redress for their grievances. The Committee asked BCSD for data regarding teacher resignation and was told this information was not available. The loss of experienced, dedicated teachers is a contributing factor to the number of schools failing to meet API or AYP targets. A majority of the District’s schools are in Program Improvement; this is a detrimental factor to the students’ academic achievement.

ME:   How do we change this?  Is 10% leaving high,   Maybe it is....it must be for it to be a detrimental factor.