Transforming school culture at Harmony Elementary: In 2003, One LA - IAF Central Leadership Committee member and principal Robert Cordova opened a new school in South Los Angeles, Harmony Elementary. Mr. Cordova had worked with One LA - IAF in his previous school, and sought to integrate organizing principles into the new school's culture from its inception.
One LA trained Harmony teachers to conduct house meetings and one-on-one meetings, the school organized Back-to-School Nights around house meetings, and parents began a series of conversations about safety issues surrounding the school. By Harmony's third year, classrooms with teachers and parents involved in organizing posted some of the highest gains in test scores in their local district. Return to top.
Eliminating disparity in resources by restructuring LAUSD funding: In 2001, parents at Trinity Elementary learned that students on Track B, which begins in early summer in year-round schools, were not receiving intervention funds for timely tutoring and supplemental assistance. Track B funding for intercession and supplemental tutoring did not come through until four months into the school year, when the district allocated its entire budget based on the traditional calendar.
One LA - IAF schools and congregations organized to successfully alter the budget timetable of LAUSD to ensure intervention funding for Track B at the beginning of the Track B school year, improving the lives of 270,000 students. The fifth-grade classrooms at Trinity, whose parents and teachers had spearheaded the effort, posted the largest gains in test scores of any fifth grade in the entire school district. Return to top.
Ensuring a healthy school environment at Park Avenue Elementary: In 2001, parents and teachers at Park Avenue noticed a thick black substance surfacing through the cracks of the school's playground. District personnel made initial inspections and declared that the substance was not a safety hazard.
After several students became ill with respiratory problems and two pregnant teachers miscarried, a team of parents and teachers began organizing with One LA - IAF (then known as LA Metro - IAF) to address the environmental problems in the school. They learned that the school was built over an old chemical plant whose materials had turned toxic.
Parents and teachers reached out to congregations in the area, challenged LAUSD, and secured an agreement to move all of the students from the school site and devote $14 million to the cleanup effort. Once the students had moved, parents and teachers continued organizing and secured agreements from the district for numerous school renovations including new paint, air conditioners, carpets, and desks. In 2003, students moved back to their school - a building that, thanks to their efforts, was now healthy and beautiful. Return to top.
Improving nutrition at Miles Avenue Elementary: In 2005, teachers and parents at Miles Elementary began a series of house meetings. During those conversations, stories surfaced of the cafeteria at Miles: Parents spoke of their children complaining of unripe or rotten fruit, of greasy pizza, and of "blue" hot dogs.
The school's core organizing team decided to launch an effort to improve the quality of food in the cafeteria. They discovered that one obstacle to improving food options at Miles was the size of the school: Miles Avenue is one of the largest elementary schools in the country, with more than 2,000 students. With so many children to serve each day, the cafeteria was unable to offer anything beyond a limited menu, with items such as nachos, pizza, and hot dogs that could be delivered quickly.
Miles Avenue successfully organized to renovate the school cafeteria so that it could serve more students at any given time as well as distribute healthier food. In addition, the school district began a taste-testing program with Miles Avenue students, working with several classes to test out healthier menu options - which are now available to all students in the district. Return to top.
Ensuring clean air in Sun Valley and at Fernangeles Elementary: The Bradley Landfill, located in Sun Valley in the Northeast San Fernando Valley, is one of the city's two major landfills. Garbage from businesses and apartment buildings throughout Los Angeles - up to 10,000 tons a day - goes to Bradley.
In 2002, One LA - IAF leaders at Fernangeles Elementary in Sun Valley began a series of house meetings on health concerns in their community, having discovered that neighborhood asthma rates were three times the county average. In preliminary research into the causes of these health problems, parents and teachers learned that Waste Management, the operators of Bradley Landfill, were applying for a permit to increase the height of the landfill.
Parents, teachers, and administrators at Fernangeles, along with families from congregations throughout the neighborhood, began organizing to make sure their community was no longer the dumping ground for the city of Los Angeles. Since then, One LA - IAF has won several victories alleviating the landfill's environmental hazards, including securing a commitment from the city to install air-quality testing devices throughout the neighborhood and another to close Bradley and begin shipping waste out of Los Angeles County.
In reaction to One LA - IAF's organizing, Waste Management is developing a community reinvestment program and has planted numerous trees throughout Sun Valley. The dump itself is now surrounded by vegetation.
One LA - IAF leaders are currently in negotiation to ensure that the transfer station built to move waste from Sun Valley outside of the county is constructed so as to ensure minimal environmental impact on the region. In addition, leaders are working to limit the emissions produced by the garbage trucks that will continue to move through the neighborhood. Return to top.
For press on the work in Sun Valley, click here.