Op-eds

Since the brutal killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer the issue of racism and equality in America has been front and center in the streets of our cities with peaceful marches and across our news platforms.

The Black community has suffered tremendously over the past four hundred years in our struggles to exist and obtain basic rights. Now, standing on the edge of real and powerful change, we have found greater allies in the fight for civil rights and equality. The movement ignited by Mr. Floyd’s death has been joined by other communities of color including and especially Latinos.

To all the communities in the struggle for equality and positive change across our country, I understand and know your anguish and anger.

My family has a legacy of involvement in the civil rights movement. My uncle was part of the Little Rock Nine who suffered immense racism because they were integrated into a white school in Arkansas in 1957.

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has reported that over 15,000 students have not been heard from since the March 16 closure of schools due to coronavirus concerns. An estimated 40,000 additional students fail to check-in daily.

Even as LAUSD leaders have been working diligently to accommodate the needs of teachers and students as it transitions to an all-digital distance learning format – student access to technology and understanding its use remains an issue.

A majority of the 560,000 students enrolled in LAUSD are from low-income families with limited access to computers, wireless technology and the internet. My district is home to the largest amount of LAUSD schools with 170.

This lack of access can be detrimental to the ability of a student to stay current with homework and assignments forcing them to play catch up when school resumes, or worse, experience exponential learning loss.