Attending last night’s School Board meeting, I was heartened by two presentations.
One was by two fifth graders, Deion Turner and Tyler MacIntosh, showing their excitement about the new science lab at El Rincon Elementary School. The other was a notice by
Supt. Myrna Rivera Cote regarding a “Best of Los Angeles” article in Los Angeles magazine that touted the quality of our School District, and how this bolsters our community. These presentations strongly support why Advanced Placement (A.P.) classes in science and math must be preserved at Culver City High School. Too often, times of fiscal stress result in budget decisions being made on quantitative measures (e.g. class sizes) without enough thought being given to qualitative measures.
Is there any doubt that our high school students need a strong grounding in science and math?
Read the newspapers, and you’ll see mention of breakthroughs in stem cell research, microbial fuel cells, and alternative forms of energy. President Obama has made clear he supports federal spending for such endeavors.
Our future, the quality of our community, rests in part on our students remaining competitive in these fields. This effort will be compromised if A.P. classes in the sciences and math are cut. Lab sciences, in particular are difficult to absorb in an online, distance-learning environment, a less-than-optimal option for students if these classes go away.
The best and brightest at our high school need these A.P. classes to maintain an edge in the hyper competitive world of college admissions. Each year, some of our seniors are fortunate enough to gain admission to the top U.C, campuses, Ivy League schools and a host of other top public and private colleges.
We should encourage, not diminish, high school students’ thirst to reach for higher level classes. Additionally, only A.P. classes, not honors level classes, offer students the ability to gain college credit and advance placement. This may result in completion of a college degree in less than four years, a real financial bonus that our students and their families would like to retain, through the dint of their hard work.
High school students have been to recent School Board meetings, waiting until late into the evening to voice their support for these A.P. classes, probably studying for these same classes after they returned home. They wanted their voices heard.
We’ve also heard the voices of those fifth graders, Deion and Tyler. Nurture that sense of “Ah ha!” that students reveal when discovering something new to them in science. Don’t close the road on offering those A.P. science and math classes before they get to high school because these students will also rightly expect to be able to choose these classes.
Crystal Alexander is the former elected City Treasurer and a Trustee of the Culver City Education Foundation. She may be contacted at crystal.alexander@culvercity.org
