LAUSD to Focus on Equity after Compliance Review

Los Angeles - The Los Angeles Unified School District will improve instruction to the district's 220,000 English learners and ensure there are equitable resources in schools with largely black populations under an agreement announced Tuesday with the Education Department.

The agreement was the result of a "compliance review" initiated in March 2010 by the department's civil rights office.

Assistant Secretary Russlynn Ali said the department has been particularly concerned that secondary students who transferred out of English learning programs were getting lost in the system. She said graduation rates among this group were particularly low. Achievement gaps were found not just in this group, she said, but among black students.

Under the agreement, the district said it would work to target instruction for English learners to their level of English proficiency. It also said it will provide more computers, library books and other resources to students in schools with predominantly black students.

The L.A. district is the nation's second largest, and overall has a graduation rate of 55 percent. The Education Department said it will continue to monitor the district's progress.