The Locke Experiment

The last time I read about Locke High School in Watts, California, was when the school was involved in a massive lunch time brawl. It was just the type of story you'd expect to hear. So it was a pleasant surprise to read about a "new" Locke in the Los Angeles Times. Recently, parents and teachers fought the state of California to release the school from district control. Now Green Dot Public Schools has taken over. This new direction for the students of Locke, and their parents, is a change from the school's gang-infested, violence fueled past. Students are now required to wear uniforms, and parents are required to volunteer and participate in school activities. Of course, there's no telling what this will actually mean for the students. Locke HS, like many other low-income schools, faces challenges which have nothing to do with education. Often times teachers are faced with changing their student's perception of their own reality, and the benefits of a good education are not always readily apparent. The faculty and staff will have to work really hard, but this move is a promising sign.