KHH: I attended high school in Los Angeles County in the city of Inglewood. I attended Morningside High School from 1987 until 1991.

TCLA: Did students at your high school receive roughly the same resources as students attending school in other parts of the city?

KHH: They did not. I recall being in the 11th grade and actually orchestrating a protest regarding this very issue. I remember traveling to other schools in the South Bay and Centinela Valley such as Mira Costa, Torrance, etc., and seeing that our school just did not compare. We did not receive the same level of education. I think a lot of that had to do with our minority status and the fact that we were situated in a low socioeconomic area.

TCLA: Did all students at your high school receive the same resources as each other?

KHH: No, they did not. I actually got to experience the differences firsthand, beginning in junior high. I was originally part of a program for highly intelligent students called ITI. Because I was “not interested” I was placed out of the program and was returned to “average” classes for a time. Ironically, I was able to see the quality of education that “average” students were made to endure. [The average classes] seemed remedial. It was a stark contrast.

In high school, I was in honors classes and had a few “average” classes. It was like night and day between the advanced and the average classes. It was like you were in a different community when you were in higher level classes, and when I was in the average courses, I felt a sense of displacement.

The higher level classes tended to have greater variety and resources, whereas, the average classes were rigid and dull. For example, there seemed to be a greater effort in honors classes to provide better textbooks and access to labs. In honors biology, we were always in the lab. In an average biology class, they were limited to an “average” biology book anywhere from 6 to 10 years old and NO lab. No lab!! What is science without lab?

When I went back to my high school as a substitute teacher, I had to fight to get my “average” students inside the lab. It was the first time those students had ever been allowed in a science lab.

TCLA: How about today, do you think that students across the city receive roughly the same resources?

KHH: Being a high school teacher myself and talking to many of my peers who teach elsewhere in the city, I can say that fifty years later, we are still not playing on equal, level ground. You have schools such as a Dorsey, Westchester, and Crenshaw which are supposed to be better than high schools like Fremont or Jordan. But they are not serving their students equally or adequately as opposed to schools such as Culver City High School, North or South Torrance High School, or Crossroads or New Roads, to name a few. These schools offer a broader curriculum which actually prepare students for schools like UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, or Dartmouth. Then you look at schools like Washington Preparatory or Morningside. Even their advanced classes are not receiving an adequate education. They just aren’t.

I believe that the majority of minority students are not receiving an adequate education even in GATE programs in schools where they are concentrated. You can compare these gifted students’ test scores to the “average” students in non-minority schools many times and see that there is little difference. Something is wrong. We are still not on an even playing field.

TCLA: Is there one resource inequality that particularly concerns you—and if so, what is it and why do you think it is important?

KHH: I am concerned about the GATE programs in a lot of minority schools. We see, often, a “slip” as students continue from elementary on. There’s something to that nature versus nurture argument. How are they being “nurtured” towards building their talents and competitiveness? They start off high in elementary but go down in their testing results as they move onto middle and high school. Those that manage to stay up may be admitted to colleges and universities but that’s when you really see that our gifted and talented are not adequately prepared. How many of them actually stay in college? How many graduate? It goes back to their high school and the education they did NOT receive.

And if the gifted aren’t receiving an adequate education, you can only imagine what’s happening with the vast majority of “average” students. This is the injustice that is taking place in our schools. Our children are not being armed or protected... they are not being taught.

TCLA: What actions would you recommend to students or parents interested in joining this struggle?

KHH: I believe that parents and students, in particular, must be more proactive. You can only be treated the way you allow yourself to be treated. Students sit in the classroom and know that they are not being taught adequately; that they are learning world history on a fourth grade level, stuff they’ve already learned. Students need to speak up (respectfully), and say that their needs are not being met.

Students have rights. If you don’t believe me, check out the ACLU’s website. There’s a long list. If your needs aren’t being met, it’s your right to go to the school board and complain. If the school board doesn’t comply, it is your right as a student to petition and write letters to your senators and congressperson and say that something needs to be done. You use whatever means necessary to get a quality education. It takes bravery.

Parents, don’t allow your children to sit in schools with no textbooks and filthy conditions. Even if your school is Title I, there are funds there that should be going to improving your child’s education. Ask questions. Be in those classrooms. If you can’t, send someone in your family who can. Find out what’s going on in your schools.

When the needs aren’t being met, parents and students need to say, “Enough is enough. We will not let you collect ADA off of our heads. We’ll show you. We won’t come to school. You won’t make money on us.” Then, they need to get organizations to sponsor them to go to Sacramento and fight.

TCLA: The Brown decision held out the broad promise of a society no longer shaped by the racism of Jim Crow segregation. What difference could equal educational resources make in today’s struggle against racism?

KHH: If every child had access to computers, current textbooks, teaching by certificated staff, and extracurricular offerings, then all students truly would have equal access to higher education. I think that we are getting closer, but it’s not a reality yet. I think that technology is one way that is helping to allow students to expand and get outside assistance despite current conditions.

But until we do have equal access, it’s up to us to continue dialoguing, raising awareness, and making a difference. Are we going to wait fifty more years or do it now?