(Oakland, CA) – The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) already has the vast majority of the teachers it would need to provide every student with so-called “A-G” curriculum, according to a report released today by the Education Trust-West.  On Tuesday, May 24^th, the LAUSD Board of Education will vote on whether to implement so-called “A-G” course requirements for all students in the district.

“A-G” courses, the so-called “college prep” curriculum, represent the bare minimum needed to be considered for admission to California’s public universities (UC/CSU).  Research has shown that it is also the curriculum students will need to be ready for the 21^st century workforce.  

According to the report, “Preparing LAUSD Students for the 21^st Century: We have the way, but do we have the will?” released today by the Education Trust-West, more than half of LAUSD’s high schools (61%) either already have the teachers they need or need two or fewer additional teachers in order to provide all students with the A-G curriculum.

The report uses California Department of Education data to determine how many additional teachers would be needed to implement the “A-G” curriculum district-wide.  The report concludes that a total of 104 additional teachers are needed to teach “A-G” across all of LAUSD’s high schools and 68 percent of this gap (71 teachers) is concentrated in foreign languages.  LAUSD employs a total of 36,180 teachers, the additional 104 needed teachers represent less than .3 percent of the teaching force.

“The district has the teachers in place, they just aren’t teaching the right classes,” said Russlynn Ali, executive director of the Education Trust-West.  “Teachers who are qualified to teach intermediate algebra and geometry are instead teaching pre-algebra and beginning algebra.  It’s time we capitalize on the abilities of both teachers and students and better prepare every student for life, whether it is for work or college.”

Currently, only 22 percent of all 9^th graders graduate four years later having successfully completed the A-G curriculum.  The picture looks far worse for some groups of students.  Only 16 percent of Latino 9^th graders graduate having mastered the curriculum.

The report also disputes arguments raised against system-wide implementation of “A-G” – that students don’t want the curriculum or worse, aren’t up to the challenge.

The report illustrates how access to “A-G” courses isn’t equal between schools.  By examining the courses offered in two LAUSD high schools, the report demonstrates that low-income African-American and Latino students don’t have the same access to “A-G” courses as their peers in more affluent schools.

“The naysayers out there would have us all believe that the district, or even the students aren’t up to the challenge of meeting this basic standard,” said Ali.  “But we all know that when we expect more from our students, when we raise the bar, they almost always rise to the challenge.  The district has the resources to implement these standards and our children deserve nothing less – we must prepare them for the challenges of the 21^st century economy.”

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