Beverly Hills High School Diversity Program

[her209]

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Applications Presented Today for B.H. High?s Diversity Program
Last Edited: Wednesday, 25 Apr 2007, 6:04 AM PDT
Created: Wednesday, 25 Apr 2007, 6:04 AM PDT

BEVERLY HILLS -- Black parents and civil rights leaders will present applications today for Beverly Hills High School's diversity program, which was modified after complaints that it benefited few black and Latino students.

At an April 12 meeting with civil rights leaders, Superintendent Kari McVeigh extended the deadline 13 days to tomorrow and decided to stop considering applicants' test scores, grades, writing samples and extracurricular activities in determining who is accepted. Instead, the granting of permits will be on a random basis.

The diversity permit program allows 40 students from 12 Los Angeles Unified School District middle schools to attend Beverly Hills High School, which has higher test scores, smaller classes and more Advanced Placement courses than most LAUSD schools.

On April 2, the Los Angeles Times reported that the students in the diversity permit program are mostly Asian. The next day, Urban Policy Roundtable President Earl Ofari Hutchinson called a news conference and wrote McVeigh, seeking to have more black and Latino students receive diversity permits.

Of the 159 LAUSD students attending Beverly Hills High School on diversity permits, 108 are Asian, 19 are black and 16 are Latino, according to LAUSD statistics cited by The Times. The school's 2,341 students include 151 blacks, 6 percent of its student body, and 122 Latinos, 5 percent of the student body, McVeigh said.

Before the extension, the district had received about 100 applications for diversity permits, McVeigh said. The extended deadline and distribution of applications by several groups is expected to increase the number of black and Latino applicants.

Under the laws of probability, an increased number of black and Latino applicants will mean more blacks and Latinos will receive permits.

Any student in the 12 LAUSD middle schools designated for the program can apply. Under Proposition 209, the measure approved by California voters in 1996 banning race-based preferences in education and public contracting, applicants are not allowed to state their race or ethnicity. Students must also find their own transportation to Beverly Hills.

The diversity program began in 1969 in an attempt to increase the number of black students at Beverly Hills High School, then nearly all white. It was later expanded to include Latinos and Asians.

Not really sure what to think on this one. On one hand, every student should be given an equal opportunity to be educated. On the other hand, if the school admits on a random basis, where is the incentive to study hard?

 

[Butterbean]

When blacks kids are home schooled the learning gap disappears. One reason is because they have engaged parents and another reason is they don't have liberal schools assuming always need to be leveraged somehow (special ed, watered down standards, moving black kids around like 3 card monty etc). We had one elementary school in our city that year in and year out did much better than all the others. The reason was all the kids had parents in that part of town. Alas it was only 20 percent black (and about the same number spanish kids) and the boards solution was to make kids from the 60% black schools go across town to the good school. Now they all suck.

 

[Kur]

That's like saying they should randomly pick asian people over blacks to play basketball. (don't me to stereotype but come on =P )

 

[BrownTown]

Yeah, its really sad when we start consider it discriminating to only choose the most well qualified people. What next we choose who becomes doctors based on a random lottery so we can get more black and less Indians? I mean come the freak on. Look, I know that blacks are disproportionately more likely to be poor/uneducated, but the problem is looking at it as a RACE issue, it is not a race issue, its a CLASS issue, poor/underprivileged kids of ANY race should be given the opportunity based on their ABILITY, note their RACE. The saddest thing is that these days saying something like I just said makes many people consider you RACIST when really it is the people who want unfair advantages for black who are the racists, and those of us who want to be BLIND to race who are not.

 

[piasabird]

Sounds stupid. Forced diversity will never work. You can put a bit of pepper in a salt shaker, but that does not mean it will ever become a homogeneous mixture.

 

[babylon5]

Flip side of the coin, why don't we have equal representation of race in sport teams? In Basketball, why don't we have at least 3 Asians, 3 whites, 3 Latinos in every team? Don't we have diversity there too?

 

[StageLeft]

Stupid. When you're a parent and actually have a vested interest in your children being around like-minded children who appreciate success, you'll probably understand that such measures will not aid your kids. I don't care if my kids go to school with kids blacker than the space between Bush's ears, but I do not want them around lazy good for nothings with bad grades, poor families, and no aspirations. Frig it!