Compromising our Children's Education

2005 API Scores
 For Our Elementary and Middle Schools.

Neighborhood Schools	1999 API	2000 API	2001 API	2002 API	2003 API	2004 API	2005 API	2006 API
Cowan Elementary	8	7	7			9	8
Kentwood Elementary	7	7	8			7	7
Loyola Elementary	7	7	7			7	7
Open Charter Magnet School	9	9	9			9	9
Orville Wright Middle School	6	6	5			4	4
Paseo Del Rey	7	7	8			7	7
Westport Elementary	6	5	6			5	6
Westchester High School	4	3	3			3	2

LAUSD has classified Westchester High School a 
'Commuter School' and announces
that they will increase the capacity upward to its 
maximum of 3600 students.

"We would like the Westchester community to continue 
to believe that this is their school... 
There are a lot of families with young children
 in the area and we want them to
send their children here."
 Dana Perryman - Now "Former" Westchester High School principal

Essential to Education
Essential to our Families

• Academic Performance

• Academic Opportunities

• Student Safety

Are Westchester and Playa Del Rey parents likely to consider Westchester High School a viable educational option given the recent announcements by LAUSD?

Obviously as parents we should keep all of our options open but we feel these actions would in fact compromise an already shaky institution and thus the education of our children rather than to contribute to it.

In 1999 Westchester High School was given a 4 rating (Best is 10) in the Academic Performance Index and in 2000 had dropped to a 3 where it remains today. According to the California Department of Education, similar schools in 2001 were ranked 9. See API Chart of districts high schools

• LAUSD plans to increase the capacity of the school by 300 students in the 2002-2003 school year and further increase it to the 3600 limit in 2003/2004 or 2004/2005.  (The average California high school has 1826 students)

• Add 13 new bungalows for a total of 33.

• Double the number of buses from 14 to 28 or more.

Increasing the capacity of Westchester High School will:

• Create severe overcrowding both inside and outside the high school.

• Limit the availability of college prep courses to students.

• Reduce the number of opportunities for our kids to participate in student government, play varsity & junior varsity sports, join band or theater as well as a host of other electives.

• Teachers may have to share classrooms

• WHS likely to go to year-round classes in the next few years.

• Generate animosity and ill-will with the surrounding communities because of excessive traffic, booming auto stereos, parking on residential streets, inconsiderate students purposely crossing late or against red lights, to name a few.

• Finally, by increasing the capacity to 3600 students, many of our children simply become anonymous faces in a crowd of students to the teachers and administrators of the school.  Kids who need a little extra attention will be increasingly overlooked, and those who already apply the extra effort will get little of the acknowledgement or recognition they deserved.

EACH DOT REPRESENTS A HIGH SCHOOL IN THE DISTRICT NOTE NUMBER OF SCHOOLS WITH OVER 2000 STUDENTS NOTE NUMBER OF SCHOOLS WITH API SCORES IN THE LOWER HALF OF THE SCALE WITH 5 OR LESS NOTE HOW FEW SCHOOLS ARE IN THE 6 TO 10 RANGE WHEN COMPARED TO STATE BELOW

EACH DOT REPRESENTS A HIGH SCHOOL IN THE STATE. LAUSD SCHOOLS ARE EXCLUDED IN THIS CHART.  NOTE NUMBER OF SCHOOLS WITH 2000 AND FEWER STUDENTS NOTE EVEN DISTRIBUTION OF API SCORES IN STATE COMPARED TO LAUSD

Interesting LAUSD High School Facts: Westchester High School received an API rating of 3. The average high school API score in LAUSD is a dismal 3.25! There are 55 high schools1 in the district and of those only 9 high schools score better than 5!  Only 1 high school in the district has an API score of 10. 40 of the LAUSD high schools have 2000 or more students A poor performing high school will often have a magnet school on the campus. Sometimes more than one. This helps raise the API for the poorly performing school. The California Department of Education does not treat them as separate schools. Where both a regular high school and a magnet school share the same campus, the scores are combined to raise the campus API on an average of 1 to 2 points. It is this for reason you will not see separate CDS codes issued by LAUSD. LAUSD spends $80 million per year on student busing. LAUSD could have built 2 and 1/2 high schools each year for the same price or 10 new high schools during the 4 year enrollment of the average high school student. (Ref: Average California high school costs $31 million dollars http://www.cde.ca.gov/resrc/factbook 2001) 1Alternative schools were not included

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