How Libra Almost Doomed Huntington Park HS

By Jesús Estrada

In 2010, when Libra Academy existed as the bungalows behind Huntington Park High School, Huntington Park High was beset with low test scores and underperforming students. In response, LAUSD threatened to allow Huntington Park High to be taken over by charter schools if the school failed to raise its test scores. This jeopardized the jobs of the Spartan faculty since charters are not forced to rehire current teachers.

To HP’s relief, the school barely surpassed the determining API (Academic Performance Index) score of 600 by three points. However, after further investigation, the increase of test scores seemed to have came from Libra (Libra alone scored 726 and without Libra, HP scored 546).

Yolie Flores, an LAUSD board member who pushed for the investigation, demanded that HP be reformed and Libra be left alone since it was successful. The reforms included firing half of Huntington Park teachers and having them reapply for their positions. Also, the school would be broken up into smaller programs.

Many Spartan students and faculty were outraged, such that they had a walk-out in May 2011 to protest the reforms. Despite their attempts, the district imposed their proposed reforms.

Libra, our little school, almost saved the jobs of the Spartan faculty , but were these teachers even worth saving?

Flores questioned, according to the Los Angeles Times, “Do we have the right teachers who are preparing our kids for the future?’” Also according to the newspaper, some of the students reported that some of their teachers instructed them poorly. For instance, teachers would use their phones and ignore students or even harass them.

Out of the many Spartan teachers that feared losing their jobs, Libra gained one who many students acclaim to be a lottery-ticket teacher, Mr. Rodriguez (also known as “Orod”). According to Rodriguez, he had to wait “day after day” after interviews to know if he was to be rehired at HP. After receiving a call from Ms. Lambert to join Libra and being notified immediately (one day after an interview) of getting the job, Orod joined Libra.

Rodriguez claimed he felt gratified to get the job at Libra because he “wanted to stay in HP. Libra was still in HP, ” where he could continue to help “his own community."

Nevertheless, if the district never pinpointed Libra as the main source of the increase of scores, the reported incompetent instruction could have continued to plague Huntington Park High School. Currently, Huntington Park gradually is improving on its own. In 2013, according to the California Department of Education, their API score increased from 651 to 673, a great improvement from 603.

Plus, Libra got Orod.