Equity Alert: 2009 API Rankings Reveal Unequal Access to California’s Best Schools

This inaugural Equity Alert highlights California’s newest statewide rankings and uncovers all-too-familiar achievement gaps. The state’s 2009 Base Annual Performance Index (API) data and statewide rankings reveal that race and class continue to play a substantial role in shaping educational opportunities and that systemic inequity is pervasive in California’s schools. The report outlines actions state policymakers and education leaders can take to address these patterns of inequity. These actions include: implementing policies to identify, recruit, and retain highly effective teachers and principals; ensuring that high-need students have access to the supports and interventions they need from the earliest grades; and providing additional resources to the state’s lowest-performing schools in exchange for greater accountability.

To read the full report, see the attachment below.

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Karla Fernandez

Communications Manager

Karla Fernandez (she/her/hers) joins Ed Trust–West as a Communications Manager with over 11 years of experience advancing social impact initiatives.

Karla started her career as a teacher at Chicago Public Schools and UIC College Prep. After teaching, Karla joined United Friends of the Children to support LA County’s youth in foster care as a college counselor. Through Leadership for Educational Equity, Karla also served as a Policy Advisor Fellow for the office of a Los Angeles Unified School Board Member. She solidified her interests in policy analysis and quantitative research during her time with the Price Center for Social Innovation, the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles, and the USC Presidential Working Group on Sustainability. Before joining The Education Trust–West, Karla was the Associate Director for the Southeast Los Angeles (SELA) Collaborative, a network of nonprofits advocating for communities in SELA.

Karla holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology from the University of Chicago, a Master of Public Policy from the USC Price School of Public Policy, and a Graduate Certificate in Policy Advocacy from the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Karla is based out of southern California and is passionate about using data analysis, communications, and digital strategies for policy advocacy and social justice efforts.