Semillas del Pueblo: A Decade of Innovation and Educational Success

Contradicting the pessimism of our greatest critics, IB World Schools Semillas del Pueblo (Xinaxcalmecac K-8 and Anahuacalmecac 9-12) have again met all of their benchmarks for renewal since the schools' last renewal in April 2012. Significantly, Semillas Community Schools also outperformed similar dual immersion and resident schools our students would have otherwise attended three out of the past four years. Most impressively, Anahuacalmecac International University Preparatory High School of North America, has not fallen into Program Improvement status in five years and has achieved possibly the highest API growth rate in the State of California in 2012. Over the past three years Anahuacalmecac has achieved a 104 point growth in API, while Xinaxcalmecac has achieved an 86 point growth. While, the Charter School Division's recent recalcitrant position against Semillas del Pueblo has time and again presented a viscerally biased view of our students' performance omitting true performance over time, Semillas students, staff, parents and supporters can rest assured that their collective diligence and dedication continue to demonstrate progress while avoiding the depravities of high-stakes schooling.

Fortunately, in April 2012, based upon the presentation of multiple valid measures of school success, the LAUSD Board of Education directed the Charter School Division, and indeed the entire Deasy administration, to work with Semillas del Pueblo to develop a new "alternative assessment" system for schools to more holistically measure the successes of community-based models, as a part of the decision to renew the charter of Semillas del Pueblo. To date, neither the Superintendent's office nor the LAUSD CSD have approached us to address this pending directive. As noted at the Xinaxcalmecac charter hearing by U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner and attorney Percy Duran, "we are very concerned about charter schools' ability to provide a different path for students, at the same time there is an obligation that the school district support these schools. We must provide for these charter schools that are different, that are unique." Semillas del Pueblo stands out in California as an international model addressing long-standing national demands for educational justice. Beyond affirming the demands for equality, Semillas del Pueblo raises the bar by calling for access to international excellence in education. Addressing Semillas del Pueblo at the same hearing, LAUSD Board President Monica Garcia stated, "The District has to do more in order to address schools of great innovation".

Things would be easier if the LAUSD wouldn't repeatedly violate the civil rights of English Language Learners, indigenous students and community-based charter petitioners.

Then the focus could be on the importance of serving EVERY CHILD in the District as opposed to selectively serving only some as confirmed by a recent investigation of the District by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights. Left to its own devices, the LAUSD hydra would likely continue on the creativity-killing trajectory it's been on for decades. (see Sir Ken Robinson on how schools kill creativity).  Semillas del Pueblo stands in stark contrast to the recidivist policies pushing districts like the LAUSD to fire more hard working teachers and sheepishly march to witless NCLB-era edicts. To wit, over fifty years of corporate and ideologically driven predominantly English-only reductionist and nativist educational policies have resulted in leaving most children behind in major urban centers like Los Angeles. By the District's own measure in 2012, approximately 525 LAUSD schools are in Program Improvement status (See HERE). This means that by federal standards, roughly 60% of LAUSD schools are in Program Improvement status, or what some would erroneously call "failing schools".  It's definitely high time we come up with an "alternative assessment". Corporate driven educational plans such as Open Court, and other major private vendors and publishers have profited heavily from this ineffective labeling of public schools and public school students as failures. Yet, the statistics remain persistent, Los Angeles public schools would seem to fail more students and graduate less college-ready seniors, especially from disadvantaged communities such as those on the Eastside THAN THEY OUGHT TO.  What then is the antidote? Do state exams help kids get to college? No. Do colleges and universities consider students' state exam scores when applying for college? No. Do standards-based exams and the data-driven instruction necessary for test preparation better prepare our youth for the real world? Arguably, no. Has the LAUSD been found guilty of violating the civil rights of English Language Learners by the U.S. Department of Education? Yes.

After all is said and done, what is the point of a public education? It ought to be to help children become capable, engaged and prosperous adults. It ought also be to help raise children who recognize the need to "create a better and more peaceful world" (ibo.org). Semillas del Pueblo joins the rigor of an international level curriculum, building upon common core standards in California that lead towards a college-ready high school experience. Over the course of a ten-year trajectory, Semillas del Pueblo has maintained an open-door admission policy while serving a community racked with bullying and other forms of peer violence, as well as perennial underperformance, in local schools.  Through it all, fear and loathing from people unwilling to embrace our community and ultimately, hostile to our children, have attacked whatever morsel of difference they could sink their teeth in. Very little about the anti-Semillas del Pueblo diatribe from already discredited sources, is actually material to an informed discussion about good education - and any critic of Semillas should be wary to avoid becoming an instrument of reactionary spouts of hatred looking for easy targets.

Perhaps beyond baseless extremist positions that have little to do with education, we could find a common ground needed in this country and abroad to "develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world." In the process, kids everywhere could discover that learning means more than test-taking, in fact, sometimes it means that being rooted, centered, innovative and creative are risks worth taking. Semillas del Pueblo is part of a movement in education in this country and abroad to address the historical lack of education and mis-education of indigenous children. While to some this may be cause for alarm, to parents conscious of their international right to an education inclusive of maternal language and culture, it is simply common sense. 

Semillas del Pueblo believes that the highest levels of international discourse and rigorous inquiry enlivened by passionate, caring teachers who truly reflect and nurture community should guide education. With this noble mission at its heart, and as a teacher-initiated, community-led educational design, Semillas del Pueblo is a school for the children of working people of Los Angeles that is achieving international level quality thanks to the caliber of its teaching staff and the commitment of its parents. Semillas del Pueblo represents a flower of resilience in East Los Angeles. Echoing President Garcia, LAUSD Board member Steve Zimmer noted, "I am very concerned that there is not an accurate measurement in terms of the pedagogical instructional model that is in place. That if there is a mismatch between our pedagogical instructional model and our measurement system or our metrics, there has to be a way to correct that." As Education Secretary Arne Duncan recently stated about his department's findings on the pervasiveness of educational inequities for our children across the United States, "The undeniable truth is that the everyday educational experience for many students of color violates the principle of equity at the heart of the American promise. It is our collective duty to change that." At Semillas del Pueblo, this promise and duty is a daily reality.