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Life & Times Transcript
04/04/06 This program is made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department. Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times -- Exit exams ensure that all high school graduates meet the same basic requirement, but what if they haven't had the same education? Ignacio Martinez>> My English was terrible. I didn't know how to spell, I didn't know how to read, yet I had to take this test. Jack O'Connell>> We have an achievement gap in the state of California. We know that. We admit that. Val Zavala>> And then, it's their turn to be stars, so what have they done? Written their own script. We look at "Native Voices at the Autry". These stories and more next on tonight's Life and Times. Announcer>> Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. Val Zavala>> It's make it or break it time for the class of 2006. High school students have to pass the new exit exam or they don't get their diploma. Now the good news is that ninety percent of California students will pass, but as a group, Blacks, Latinos, and low income students have high failure rates. But is it fair to hold disadvantaged students to the same standards? That's causing some controversy at area high schools and Toni Guinyard has the story. [Film Clip] Toni Guinyard>> Students in California's public high schools are now under pressure to prove what they've learned in class. In addition to the usual standardized tests and mandatory classes, they're now required to take and successfully pass the California high school exit exam by the end of their senior year. Do you know what happens if you don't pass? Naydalli Haro>> You don't receive your diploma. Toni Guinyard>> She's right. The possibility of being denied a diploma now threatens every public school student in the state and you can credit, or blame, Jack O'Connell, State Superintendent of Public Instruction. He wrote the law in 1999 when he was in the State Senate. Jack O'Connell>> Rather than simply saying here's a high school diploma, I hope you feel good about yourself, and we're setting kids up for failure. To me, that's a disservice to our students. Toni Guinyard>> The test is given in two sections: English Language-Arts. Jack O'Connell>> For English Language-Arts, the tests are standards in eighth, ninth and tenth grades. Toni Guinyard>> And math. Jack O'Connell>> For math, the tests are standards at seventh, eighth and ninth grades, beginning basic algebra. It's the standards that are necessary, the minimum, the least amount students must know in order to be proficient. Toni Guinyard>> Once a student passes one section of the test, they don't have to take that section again. If they fail to pass, they can take the test up to six times during high school. Jack O'Connell>> Once as a sophomore, twice as a junior, three times as a senior. But it's important to note that, if a student still has not passed the test, that simply means that the student's education is not finished. It's incomplete. Go to adult school. Take a summer class. Go to community college. Do independent studies. Stay in high school a fifth year. [Film Clip] Toni Guinyard>> We caught up with Superintendent O'Connell during a visit to Burbank's John Burroughs High just days after the exit exam was administered. J.D. Rees>> "So you can get literally a D on this test and still count as passing it." Toni Guinyard>> J.D., Matt and Scott are seniors at John Burroughs High and members of the class of 2006. It's the first group of students required by California law to pass the exit exam as a requirement of graduation. Matt Senate>> I remember the day like everyone was completely quiet in the room. We were all in the gym. We were all actually very worried about the test when we heard that it was going to be applied to us as the first year that it's going to count for us. Everyone was kind of stressing about it. Scott Hanson>> We've been told like what to kind of expect, but there's always going to be apprehension when you're being held to a new standard, especially when no one else has been held to it. So, of course, we're just kind of nervous. Matt Senate>> When we actually started doing the questions, it became really easy and really natural. Toni Guinyard>> Each passed both sections of the exam on their first try. For other students, it's not that simple and critics of the test say it's also not fair. Lisette Cruz>> And when you come to a low income school, you don't have the opportunity. You know, our classes are like forty people in a class. Our teachers don't have the time to evaluate you individually. You don't have the chance to talk to them like one on one. Ignacio Martinez>> These students are students who have As, Bs and Cs and they're judging them with the one test which isn't fair at all. Toni Guinyard>> Ignacio Martinez learned to speak English just three years ago. The test is administered in English. He passed the exam on his second try. Ignacio Martinez>> My English was terrible. I didn't know how to spell, I didn't know how to read, yet I had to take this test. Naydalli Haro>> Some don't even know what a noun is, what a verb is, what a subject is. It's just hard for them to understand, especially on the time writing essay. They didn't even really know what to write about. Toni Guinyard>> Cabrillo High School junior, Naydalli Haro, passed the English portion on her first try, but is struggling with the math. So you took it as a sophomore? Naydalli Haro>> As a sophomore. Toni Guinyard>> Okay. Naydalli Haro>> Again as a sophomore. Toni Guinyard>> Okay. Naydalli Haro>> And again this year as a junior. Toni Guinyard>> So you've taken the math portion -- Naydalli Haro>> Three times (laughter). Toni Guinyard>> You smile, though. Naydalli Haro>> Three times -- because it's embarrassing for me to say three times because I was thinking, by the second time I would take it, I would have done better. Mariela Gomez>> All the students I would talk to, they get discouraged. Toni Guinyard>> Mariela Gomez is an organizer for the group Californians For Justice. It campaigned against the exit exam, citing disparities in the education of poor and minority students. Mariela Gomez>> It's not surprising to find that the higher number of students that are failing the part of the high school exit exam, if not both parts, attend low income schools and most of these schools are in communities of color. Jack O'Connell>> We have an achievement gap in the state of California. We know that. We admit that. Toni Guinyard>> O'Connell believes the exam is already helping identify which students, schools and school districts need additional help. An analysis of the exam found that statewide a greater number of English learners, minority and economically disadvantaged students, are struggling to pass one or both parts of the test. Jack O'Connell>> These are subgroups that are growing and yet these subgroups are lagging being their peers. And for us to address the achievement gap in our state, the high school exit exam is just one tool, one of several that we have, to help close that achievement gap and better prepare the future workforce for our economy. Toni Guinyard>> One big source of conflict has to do with graduation ceremonies. The state is allowing all of the school districts to determine if students who are unable to pass the exit exam should be able to participate in graduation ceremonies and that is causing a lot of problems. Scott Hanson>> I actually feel that, if you don't pass the exit exam, you shouldn't be part of the ceremony. Matt Senate>> Like we present the graduating class of 2006, we can't say that. You know, the graduation ceremony is supposed to be about completing all the requirements and, you know, finishing high school. If you really haven't finished all the requirements, what's the point of going to the ceremony? Toni Guinyard>> It's a debate being held in school districts statewide over the end result of an exam designed to increase the value of a California high school diploma. Emilio Urioste>> You know what it does is, it gives the students a sense of how serious their education is. Just the other day, we tested and I got to tell you that every kid gets the message. I want a diploma. There was seriousness, there was full attention, there was a focus on what was going on. Toni Guinyard>> Burroughs High School principal, Emilio Urioste, says the key is making sure students are prepared for the test and that they understand what's at stake. Emilio Urioste>> This is something that we need to allow to continue and we're going to -- like with anything that's been implemented within a short amount of time, we're going to have to make some adjustments. But the fact is that this is an important component of a child's high school education. Jack O'Connell>> Students have known about it since 1999. It's been postponed twice already. It's not going to be postponed again nor should it be. Toni Guinyard>> Have you taken the test? Jack O'Connell>> I have not. Toni Guinyard>> Would you take the test (laughter)? Jack O'Connell>> I've taken some of the sample questions and they're challenging. Some of those questions are challenging. Toni Guinyard>> Challenging questions on an exam all California public high school students must take. I'm Toni Guinyard for Life and Times. Val Zavala>> You may be wondering about special education students. Yes, they have to take the exam as well if they want a diploma, but the requirement doesn't kick in until next year with the class of 2007. Announcer>> Kcet.org is the place to look for the very latest on Life and Times. You'll find previews of upcoming stories, plus transcripts and audio of past episodes and links to some of our most interesting features. Just go to kcet.org, scroll down the page and click on "Life and Times". Val Zavala>> Earlier this year, student violence erupted at Fremont High School in South Los Angeles. Last year, it was Jefferson High. Now most of the student fights have been attributed to racial tensions, black versus brown, but is it that simple? And what about all that multicultural training we hear about? Didn't it do any good? We brought three talkative people together in a kitchen over coffee -- caffeinated -- for a frank conversation. John Hill is president of a mentoring program called Fathers Heart Committee. Gary De La Rosa is with the Los Angeles City Human Relations Commission where he's also their liaison to troubled schools. And Joe Hicks is with Community Advocates, Inc., an organization that encourages innovative approaches to race relations. The topic? Black-brown conflicts. Joe Hicks>> You know, it seems like we spend an awful lot of money on multicultural and, you know, tolerance training in our schools. This is not going on in the jails, obviously, but certainly it's been happening in our schools. Either we waste a lot of money here or something isn't working. What do you guys see going on here? What's the problem? John Hill>> Well, I think that the problem is that, yes, you've done some training, but the issue is society and, in society, there's still the problem. There's still the problem of race. There's still the problem of discrimination. I think that -- Joe Hicks>> -- well, I don't think we've wasted a lot of money on this. John Hill>> I don't think we've wasted a lot of money. When I look at the issue, I'm looking at the issue of, let's say, Fremont High School where you only had a hundred kids fighting out of a population of maybe fifteen hundred to two thousand. So I always look at that. I want to know, did the entire school fight or just maybe fifty kids who got up this morning and came there to fight anyway? So I don't look at these things -- Gary De La Rosa>> -- I'm going to say, look, part of the issue about training is the kind of training you get. You know, Joe, when we're working together, the touchy-feely stuff, we're not on to that, right? You know, we're not going to eat each other's food or sing Kumbaya and love one another. It's really about walking the walk and a lot of people don't understand a lot of the new communities that are coming in here. A lot of people have been sold on that when you're here, you should be a certain way. I don't even say, since September 2001, there's very strong nationalism in this country which also helps to feed into this. But in times of great change, everyone thinks they're a victim and people are afraid and don't necessarily understand what's happening. So I think the training and the style of the training like the training you used to give at the school district, right? Well, sometimes it was pretty bad -- Joe Hicks>> -- but we keep doing the same old thing. Right now we're talking about peace teams at Fremont High School. John Hill>> Wait a minute. The training that has been done at school is not going to work unless you have training in the home. I mean, that's ridiculous of people sitting out here talking about training, training, training and kids are going home and listening to their parents. Joe Hicks>> But you guys have both said something, I think, really interesting. It's clear that all the kids on these campuses, in fact all the people in the jails, are sometimes unwillingly participating in the fighting. So then we got knuckleheads, obviously, in the schools and in the jails, so are we really talking about finding ways to deal with knuckleheads as well as maybe finding a way to get to the parents about the message -- Gary De La Rosa>> -- excuse me. One way of doing that, again, I always talk about the great middle in the schools. All these kids in the middle -- you have programs for the A students, you have programs for the "bad" kids, but the kids in the middle often get overlooked. If you could start to give these young folks the tools that they need to deal with these things so that they can separate what my argument or issue with you is from the negative. Look, every time there's a throw-down, what happens? They go to a negative. They go to something that's going to hurt. What's going to hurt your feelings, okay? Hey, I know a lot of older African Americans who, in their day of growing up, they knew to use the word Mexican and that was a negative, right? So everybody knows those terms. You do it to kind of, you know, hurt the other side. John Hill>> Hispanics are fighting over a prejudice that someone taught them about African Americans, and African Americans are doing exactly the same thing about Latinos. Joe Hicks>> But, but, but -- Gary De La Rosa>> Let me finish this. You do have to unlearn prejudice, right? We know Los Angeles is an area that's been conquered, taken over, three times, right? I come from my Indian brothers (laughter). So it's changed hands three times. But you just used the term right now that I find offensive: Hispanic. When I hear people use Hispanic, it's like you're saying we don't want to acknowledge your ethnicity or whatever. See what I'm saying? So you're right. Joe Hicks>> Negro, African American, black. Gary De La Rosa>> Yeah, but here's the piece. It's understanding who feels comfortable. Who feels comfortable with Hispanic? That's fine. That's who they are. John Hill>> Latinos feel, number one, we want to be accepted based on who we are. African Americans feel the same way. We want to be accepted into society based on who we are. We don't want to become white and Latinos don't want to become this. That's the training that needs to take place. Joe Hicks>> Well, what's white? Gary De La Rosa>> What's white? What does that mean? Does that mean part of -- John Hill>> -- There's a perceived dominant group in the United States and that perception -- Joe Hicks>> -- but that's not the operative model in southern California. John Hill>> Give me a break. It's still there. Joe Hicks>> The mayor of the city is Latino. The sheriff of the county is Latino. Look at the -- John Hill>> -- do the young people see that? In other words, do the young people see you becoming elected and then becoming -- do they really see you as being a part of us? Joe Hicks>> But here's what you got to have here. There's got to be some over-arching structure that everyone buys into. That's got to be the way we go. John Hill>> Kids must learn how to diffuse their own issues. We're not teaching them that. We're bringing in everybody in the world, including the media. Eighteen trucks are outside waiting on the next problem and the next problem probably is going to happen because you're facing the camera, so the guy starts the problem. It's not to say the media is at fault here, but -- Joe Hicks>> -- Chris Rock told us that we can't be blaming the media all the time now (laughter). Gary De La Rosa>> It's not about blaming the media all the time. You know, there was a report that came out when I was teaching and they were saying how they went to all these little towns from Chicago all the way down to New Orleans. They kept asking people, "What's the major issue?" Oh, violence. There's people outside my house ready to kill us. Then they went back to those little towns and they talked to the sheriffs, right? They hadn't had a murder there since like the Civil War. So what is it? They're seeing the perception, right? And they're going to make decisions based on that. But at the same time, it's about how do you tear that apart? I don't look at every American that walks down the street and think that's the Unabomber, right? Well, maybe once in a while (laughter). Not all the time. Joe Hicks>> But I'm the emperor of Los Angeles County and I give both of you the deal with this. What do you do? Because they hear you talking about issues of households and parents and the kind of ethnic or racial message might be inside those households coming to school with those kids. John Hill>> I'm bringing in the school and I'm bringing in the community, but I'm bringing in the leadership. If I know there's gang leadership on my school, I'm bringing them in to have a discussion to listen -- Joe Hicks>> -- You're going to have a discussion on gang leadership. I hope you'll be packing, brother (laughter). John Hill>> I don't worry about you packing during school time because I already got you searched before you come in. Joe Hicks>> But sometimes you're breaking in anyway (laughter). John Hill>> But the part that I'm trying to say is that we have got to have discussions among the young people on these campuses about the issues and let them talk about these issues not just, you know -- Gary De La Rosa>> -- I think you're also bringing in here, Joe, the piece about civic engagement. How do we become a part of a community? When you become a part of something, then you want to help it, right? And you want to make sure it survives. We all want quality of life. Everybody does. I don't know anybody who's going up and saying I don't want good quality of life. Joe Hicks>> Well, we're not going to solve this here today. Gary De La Rosa>> Why not? Joe Hicks>> I wish we could. John Hill>> We're trying to. Joe Hicks>> I've run out of coffee. Gary De La Rosa>> There's the media again taking away the time (laughter). Joe Hicks>> But we got to go. I want to thank you guys for coming in and having this conversation. We'll do this some more. Come on back. Announcer>> To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us by mail at this address: Life and Times 4401 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90027 You can also call our viewer comment line (323) 953-5555) or contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org. Val Zavala>> It's their turn to be stars and they're not waiting for Hollywood casting agents to discover them. Native Americans are writing their own plays and stepping onto the stage. Vicki Curry goes to The Autry at Griffith Park to see what "Native Voices" is all about. [Film Clip] Vicki Curry>> American Indians. We know what they're all about, right? They fought cowboys in buckskins and beads. But today's Native Americans are challenging that tired stereotype and this group is using theater to do it. [Film Clip] Randy Reinholz>> In Native American culture, so many times our history, our everything has been interpreted by someone else and then represented by someone else. I mean, we needed live people instead of always Indians caught in time, somebody's image, somebody else's portrayal of Indians. [Film Clip] Vicki Curry>> This is "Native Voices at the Autry" and it's the only theater program in the United States dedicated to putting on plays written by Native Americans. Jean Bruce Scott>> I think that the stories were out there and I think that the desire was out there, but there was no formal program or project that actually provided that time and that arena to develop the work. Vicki Curry>> Randy Reinholz and his wife, Jean Bruce Scott, are the founders of "Native Voices". It started by chance in 1994 when they were teaching at Illinois State University and looking to produce an Indian play. Jean Bruce Scott>> So we started to call people at the different regional theaters and they knew of a couple of plays that had been done maybe fifteen or twenty years before, but nothing really current. Vicki Curry>> They eventually found five plays and decided to put on a festival. Randy Reinholz>> Pretty soon, we realized we were serving a really important purpose for these Native American authors to bring them together, let them hear their work out loud, let them hear each other's work. Vicki Curry>> "Native Voices" became an annual event and quickly gained a national reputation. In 1999, Reinholz and Bruce Scott began a partnership with the Autry National Center in Griffith Park. They moved to southern California and started turning their projects into a full-blown theater company. [Film Clip] Randy Reinholz>> Coming here and trying to develop new work in Los Angeles, you have great acting talent that's under-utilized, underpaid and eager to work. The writers really liked what they were hearing. The actors liked being a vibrant part of things. They're able to prove that they can do a lot of different things. A lot of Native American actors find themselves going out for that kind of stoic part, a couple of lines here, a lot of looking and squinting, and they really wanted to be the star of the show rather than, you know, like all actors. So these playwrights were Native characters of the stars. [Film Clip] Vicki Curry>> "Native Voices" has become a place where Hollywood looks for new talent. Several of the company's actors appeared in the Steven Spielberg series, "Into The West", including the star, Tonantzin Carmelo, who was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award. [Film Clip] Vicki Curry>> Another alum starred in the 2005 film, "The New World", and Q'Orianka Kilcher performed with "Native Voices" when she was just twelve years old. [Film Clip] Randy Reinholz>> And that's the kind of group of actors that we see that were growing and we're anxious to introduce to other people in town and in the industry. Vicki Curry>> But the focus here is on writers and on helping them fine-tune their work before it hits the stage. Arigon Starr acted in several "Native Voices" productions before writing her first play, a one-woman show called "The Red Road". [Film Clip] Arigon Starr>> The playwrighting process was hard and difficult and it was something I wasn't sure that I could do, but I knew that I could do it with "Native Voices" because they've encouraged me. Jean Bruce Scott>> We've really discovered that there's a lot of new talent out there. There are a lot of people who have told stories in different ways. They've been story-tellers. They've been traditional dancers. They've been songwriters like Arigon who are also good story-tellers. You sit at a taping with them and they tell a story and they're interesting. So we've worked very hard to nurture and encourage them. Vicki Curry>> They do this through full equity productions, workshops, readings, new play commissions, radio plays, young playwright projects and playwright retreats where writers can work on their material with theater professionals. Jean Bruce Scott>> So what we discovered was, as we started to work with these playwrights and give them an opportunity to be in a room with a drama coach and playwrights and have an audience hear it, that their imaginations were excited and they went back and they re-wrote and reworked things. Then they started to be produced in other places. Vicki Curry>> Native Voices Productions has started going on tour and winning national competitions while being produced by some of the best theaters in the country. Jean Bruce Scott>> We encourage our playwrights to submit their scripts through the traditional channels because, again, it needs to stand up with the rest of the work. So what we're doing now is we're helping to create those entrees into those other institutions. Vicki Curry>> But the goal here isn't to write the next Broadway hit. It's about giving Native Americans a place to speak their mind. Jean Bruce Scott>> I haven't found a playwright yet here that's afraid to attack the hard work or the hard questions. While they may want it to have a broader appeal, the initial impetus for the creation of the work really comes from the idea that I have a story to tell. [Film Clip] Vicki Curry>> Although the stories focus on Native American characters, you don't have to be a member of a tribe to enjoy them. Audiences have included people of all ages and ethnicities. Randy Reinholz>> So it's a really diverse kind of cross section of meeting grounds. Then we get to sit in the dark and then we laugh and smile and cry at the same things and find sort of commonality out of that. Vicki Curry>> So "Native Voices" will continue to give voice to Native Americans and they hope to chip away at the stereotypes one play at a time. Randy Reinholz>> It feels like, no, we're not doing near enough. We have to do more. At the same time, I never thought we'd get this much done. Arigon Starr>> The importance of this particular program is, A, to have a place where our native community can come see themselves on stage. We have so many stories to tell and it's time. It's time for us. It really is. Val Zavala>> "The Red Road", the play you saw featured in Vicki's story, will be at The Autry through April 30. For more information, you can go to their website at autrynationalcenter.org. And that's our program. I'm Val Zavala. For everyone at Life and Times, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. Announcer>> Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of medicine, health, science and education. And by a generous grant from Jim and Anne Rothenberg. This program was made possible in part by a grant from the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department. Sponsored in part by:  | |
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