PETITION TO CREATE A SECOND 11TH GRADE AP ENGLISH LITERATURE AND AP U.S. HISTORY CLASS (“AP Humanities”) FOR 2022-2023 SCHOOL YEAR at OCEANA HIGH SCHOOL 

We, the undersigned students, parents, teachers, and community members petition Jefferson Union High School District to open up a second set of AP Humanities classes to all incoming 11th grade Oceana High School students who are qualified and desire access to these courses. They were unfairly denied equal access to these classes.

Jefferson Union High School District's motto is: Excellence Through Equity. We need transparency to ensure equal access to Advanced Placement classes at Ocean High School, a public school. Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in any program or activity that receives Federal funds or other Federal financial assistance.

Denying qualified students to take 11th grade AP Humanities will have detrimental, irreversible, and discriminatory effects on students' equal, fair, and meaningful access to education. 

Students who were denied placement into 11th grade AP Humanities courses have worked very hard and done well in Humanities at Oceana High School. Despite this fact, many students were denied placement and, therefore, access, jeopardizing their future higher educational endeavors to no fault of their own. 

Creating a second 11th grade AP Humanities session will also benefit students that have already been admitted into AP Humanities for the 2022-2023 school year. Having two sessions will result in smaller classes, estimated to be about 25 students per class, rather than the currently
admitted 32 students.

Please don't get in the way of these students' success. Please let these students get the education they deserve and desire at Oceana High School! Thank you.

 

Resources:

"Policies such as grade requirements, teacher recommendations and entry exams have historically prevented many black and Latino students, and low-income students, from taking AP classes.

Now the College Board and school districts are recognizing that, and districts around the country are flipping access so that any student can choose to take an AP class — that’s the policy in both Los Angeles and Long Beach unified school districts."

Source: L.A. Times: A parent’s guide to AP classes

"The Advanced Placement (AP) Program was established over 40 years ago by the College Board, a national nonprofit organization. The AP Program consists of college-level courses in 31 subject areas.

The AP Program provides incentives for public high schools in California to provide access to rigorous, college-level courses for interested and prepared students. With such programs, students may pursue college-level work while still in secondary school and receive college credit, advanced academic standing, or both."

Source: California Department of Education: Advanced Placement

"The access Bay Area students have to these advanced level courses is higher than the statewide percentage for most demographics. But even with almost universal access, there is a small percentage that can't take advanced classes - around 2,700 students out of more than 260,000 - and some locations offer more courses than other parts of the two metro areas."

Source: ABC 7 News: Most Bay Area students have access to advanced courses, but who's taking them?

"Access is the first potential barrier to advanced coursework

The fact that all students do not have similar levels of access to AP courses illustrates that the first gap in the student pathway to enrolling and succeeding in AP courses is one of access."

Source: CAP: Closing Advanced Coursework Equity Gaps for All Students