Shortchanged by the system

Decades ago, the idea of year-round, multitrack schools with 3,000 to 5,000 students would have seemed far-fetched. But today, especially in poor and minority communities, the unthinkable is happening. It is not unusual for students to attend dilapidated, overcrowded schools that accommodate populations as large as some towns.

Roosevelt High School in East Los Angeles has approximately 5,000 students with about 3,500 students on campus at any given time on a year-round schedule. The yard is covered with permanent portables to accommodate the huge population. Instructional days have been cut from the 180 mandated in the California Education Code to 163. Minutes have been added on to each school day to compensate for the loss of instructional days, but teachers say it's not the same.

"Our rooms are overcrowded and we have some classes with more than 40 students," says English teacher Will Adams, a member of United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA). "How can you get good scores when you have that many kids in a class? Schools this large are definitely challenged."

Lunch and bathroom lines are long. "At times there are so many students that they are standing by the walls and sitting on the sinks — even in AP classes," says Carlos Diaz, a senior at the school. "Sometimes I'll be standing in line and I won't get my food until the bell rings."

"It's hard to get individual attention," says Michelle Lara, also a senior. "If you make an appointment with a counselor it can take up to two weeks." There are only four counselors on campus during each track.

Roosevelt ranks 1 out of 10 on the Academic Performance Index (API). The school has not made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and is facing sanctions under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) that could include school closure or conversion to a charter school.

Recently the megaschool was divided into "schools within a school" to give students a sense of belonging. New high schools are under construction in Los Angeles, but it does not look like Roosevelt will get relief for several years.

"Of course we are shortchanging our kids," says math instructor Sal Quezada. "When students come to school and in many cases want to learn, teachers don't have time to give the student the attention that is needed because our school is so crowded. Maybe our dropout rate is evidence of that."

The school has a 61 percent graduation rate for 2002-03, and it is expected to be higher when the 2003-04 numbers come in. In order to increase the graduation rate and meet NCLB requirements, the school adopted a block schedule. Students earn more credits — and find it easier to graduate — when they have the same class for 95 minutes, and what is normally a 16-week course becomes an eight-week course. While the schedule may be helping to boost the graduation rate, it may also be contributing to a drop in standardized test scores.

"It has further reduced the hours we have to spend with kids," says Claire Tamayose, a biology teacher at the site for 30 years. "We have kids who may have ended a class in December and there is testing for that subject in May. That's why our test scores went down and part of why we will probably face sanctions under No Child Left Behind."

Many students are already behind when they enter Roosevelt. Most are English language learners from impoverished homes. Many read several years below grade level, say teachers.

"Part of it is that kids are not getting the attention they need," says English teacher Lisa Alva. "With year-round school, they have classes for four months and are off for two months. When kids are below basic, being off for two months can hurt them."

Some remedial programs don't start low enough, says Alva. She wonders whether her students will have basic reading and writing skills necessary for adulthood.

"They may never be asked to interpret a poem or appreciate a play as an adult," she says. "But they will need to write a sentence clearly. They will need to be able to read a newspaper, credit card application or collection notice. I didn't become an English teacher to teach that, but that's where the need is."

"I spent the whole weekend wrestling with my conscience over how much I care," she confides. "I care so much it's killing me. I work 10 hours a day. I am constantly working on designing curriculum, individualizing instruction, assessing on a daily basis what my students have learned, and trying to figure out what I need to teach or reteach. When I invest that much of myself and don't see improvement in every student, it's heartbreaking."

While teachers like Alva care deeply, students in overcrowded, underfunded schools such as Roosevelt may feel that society does not value them, says Tamayose. "Because of the crowding, they feel they are on the outside looking in and that most of society doesn't care that much about what happens to them. They don't feel that they are part of the mainstream."

And she wonders whether they might be right. "In the United States, we always talk about the importance of education, but we don't value education as much as other cultures when our schools are like this.

"I'm very concerned. Our middle class is dwindling and democracy has always relied strongly upon the middle class. We are gradually becoming a two-tiered society of those who are educated and those who are not. It scares me to think of the future."