Manual Arts High School Students Talk About Change, for Better and Worse

The summer is over, and while the bickering inspired by the LAUSD’s messy finances continues among teachers, administrators and politicians, many students in the district are occupying classroom desks once again. If they’re lucky, they might even have chairs. If not, it’ll be a fight for a comfy spot leaning against the supply cupboard.

For the students at Manual Arts High School in South Los Angeles, over-crowded classrooms have long been normality. [Listen below]

“Last semester, I was going to take math - algebra 2 - because I needed that class,” said Victor Gonzalez, a senior. “There were more than 60 students. It was like, you couldn’t even sit down. The tables were full. People were sitting on the tables and standing. So I had to check out of that class and miss one semester.”

Getting one-on-one attention and support is almost impossible in such conditions, according to 10th-grader Damien Banks.

“One teacher and 40 students - I don’t think the teacher would get to all those students during the period,” said Banks. “I need the help and everybody’s just clowning. That’s why sometimes I don’t understand none of it.”

The teachers are having a tough time too. Even though Manual Arts managed to stave off some of the threatened lay-offs by spreading its money around, it’s not unusual for classes to consist of more than 40 students. The classrooms themselves aren’t exactly large - every corner seems filled with books or stacks of paper, and even the walls are busy displaying hundreds of educational posters and student projects. As one English teacher pointed out, she sees five classrooms worth of students in a day. That can mean a total of 200 students. With varying ability levels to deal with and little time left for focused support, teaching something as essential as English becomes quite a feat.

Learning the basics is also proving tough, according to Gonzalez, because there simply aren’t enough teachers for foundational subjects like Math and English. Turning elsewhere for support isn’t an option either. According to Karen Flores, a 12th-grader, the school is also in short supply of counselors.

“We need another college counselor because we just have one for 688 students,” said Flores.

Over-crowded classrooms and teacher shortages are the troubling traits of a struggling school system sinking further into decline. But it’s not all doom and gloom, say the students at Manual Arts. Along with the changes affecting their school for the worse… there are also changes affecting it for the better. The new uniform policy - purple and gray shirts with black pants -  is keeping gang-bangers at bay, according to Moses, a sophomore. “When you walk in the streets it’s much safer because you won’t get banged on by other gang members, so they won’t know who to bother,” said Moses.

And despite turmoil at the top - from pink slips to budget cuts - there are still inspiring teachers to learn from, according to the students. Victor, Karen, Moses and Damien are all planning to attend college to pursue careers ranging from criminal psychology to bio-chemical engineering. Without the influence of a few motivating teachers, they say, the story could be quite different.

“There’s a lot of good experiences I had in this school that made a lot of difference,” said Moses. “I met the greatest teachers I ever met, like Ms. Basford and Mr. Carlson. I actually like those teachers. They’re like, the coolest people I ever met… for teachers.”

Listen to the students from Manual Arts High School:

For a detailed discussion of the education situation in Los Angeles, tune into KPCC (89.3 FM) on Sunday, Sep. 13, for the first show of Town Hall Journal. The students from Manual Arts will be featured, along with educators and officials from Los Angeles.

Tags: budget cuts, high school, LAUSD, layoffs, Los Angeles, Manual Arts High School, overcrowding, pink slips, students