Graduation Year

Spring 2013

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Public Policy Analysis

Second Department

Politics and International Relations

Reader 1

David Menefee Libey

Reader 2

Damien Sojoyner

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Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

© 2013 Jasmine Johnson

Abstract

According to a recent NYU study, Black Residential Migration in California: Implications for Higher Education, since the 1990s there has been considerable migration within the Black community from urban cities to the South and suburbs. In California, for example, a number of counties that have historically had the highest concentration of Blacks in the state have seen a high numerical decrease in the Black population in recent decades. Southern California is one of the more pronounced regions. The cities of Los Angeles, Compton, Inglewood, and Lynwood had the highest numerical decrease in the Black population; while cities San Bernardino and Rialto experiences significant proportional increases. These trends have significant implication in terms of the education of African American students. The study also reveals a high numerical increase in Black Enrollment between 1985 and 2005 at Rialto Unified and San Bernardino City Unified respectively.

Whereas, historically, suburban communities have access to more opportunities and resources (including better schools) than their urban counterparts, recent census data reveals a considerable increase in poverty in U.S. suburbs as a result of the great recession. Considering these recent trends, are Black students “better off” in Los Angeles Unified School District or in San Bernardino County districts: Rialto Unified or San Bernardino City Unified? This study creates and assigns grades (A-F) for each of the districts using six variables: API performance, API improvement, College Readiness, Suspension Rates, Graduation/Dropout rate, and California High School Exit Exam Pass rate.

Though all districts performed poorly, LAUSD received the high overall marks.

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