Just the Way It Is: A Student Video Documentary
The Right to Safe Schools and Adequate Learning Facilities
Produced by IDEA Summer Seminar researchers Diana Flores, Roger Lara, and Matthew Nzegwu.
This video of two Los Angeles area schools reflects the conditions faced by many public school students, particularly those in poor and working class areas.

"What Educational Resources are Necessary to Achieve the State’s Learning Standards?
"As a society we often measure success or intelligence by high-stake exams, and yet we do not equip students with the resources to successfully learn the material that they will be tested on. We then punish them for not scoring well on these standardize exams by denying them financial incentives that higher performing schools receive. "

Student Surveys
How would you answer this question on a scale of 1 to 5? "The bathrooms in my school are in good shape and I am able to use them." 39% of students surveyed in Los Angeles gave their schools a 1! Click on graph to take a look at more surveys.

It’s All About the Eyewear
by Matthew Nzegwu
"In a sense this seminar is one gradual epiphany—a sort of manifestation of what I had already known, triggering me to juxtapose my past views with what I was newly obtaining. If I had to put this seminar and what I've gained into applicable terms based on my evolved awareness, I would have to say it’s like a new set of lenses from which I am to look through."

Educate Don’t Incarcerate!
by Cynthia Santiago
"My brother was never afforded the "luxury" of an adequate defense, retrial or appeals. As a low-income youth of color, I have seen this injustice have disastrous effects on several families in my community."

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Parents Take Action: A Video Documentary
During the last week of July, parents from Lynwood’s Parent U-Turn surveyed parents entering and exiting a central Los Angeles supermarket.

Parent Survey Questions & Responses
Do you think your student is receiving an education based on state standards? This is one of the many questions that Parent U-Turn asked in their survey of LA area parents.

Parent Essays
"My mother only went to the third grade in school. She was my first teacher. She would have all of her children sit down on the floor, and she began to teach us about life.
from "My World" by Emma Street

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Interview with Assemblymember Jerome Horton (D-51)
Interviewed by Moises Castillo of Santa Monica High

Interview with Professor Bill Koski
Interviewed by Aminah Hasan of Westmark High

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Interview with Theater of the Oppressed Expert, Ariane Della DéaAriane Della Déa is an expert in Theater of the Oppressed, an art form developed by Brazilian theorist, activist, and educator Augusto Boal. Interviewed by Solange Castro Belcher and Claude Potts.

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