Since 2004, FIS has served on the steering committee of Communities for Educational Equity (CEE), a coalition of over twenty community-based organizations, civic leaders, and universities.  CEE seeks to mobilize the Los Angeles community toward ensuring that all students who graduate from the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) successfully complete a rigorous and relevant curriculum that prepares them for success in college and the 21st century workforce.

In 2005, FIS supported CEE in successfully mobilizing thousands of parents and students through the Schools We Deserve campaign (link to the Schools We Deserve page), which informed policymakers, educators, community leaders, and parents about two important strategies essential to improving Los Angeles’ low-achieving high schools:  the A-G curriculum and small schools.

FIS’ and CEE’s efforts resulted in a June 2005 LAUSD Board of Education resolution to adopt the A-G college-prep curriculum as the high school graduation requirement.  Click here to read more about the A-G movement in Los Angeles (link to the A-G Story).  CEE continues to collaborate with parents, students, and the LAUSD to ensure that the A-G requirements are successfully implemented and result in improved educational outcomes for all students.

FIS nurtures the development of CEE’s five local education collaboratives, modeled after the Boyle Heights Learning Collaborative (link to the BHLC) that was created by FIS in 2002 and is now a 501(c)3 organization.  Each collaborative brings together an alliance of civic, business, community, and education leaders focused on coordinating local services and outreach to ensure that all students receive a quality education that prepares them to be successful in higher education and 21st century careers.  Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the James Irvine Foundation, the five local collaboratives include:

• Belmont Education Collaborative (Belmont Zone of Choice)

• Boyle Heights Learning Collaborative (Roosevelt High School)

• East Los Angeles Education Collaborative (Garfield High School)

• South Los Angeles Education Collaborative (Crenshaw High School)

• Valley Education Collaborative (Sylmar High School)

FIS supports the development of a college-going culture in each of these high schools through professional development for teachers and administrators on the topic of parent engagement and high expectations as tools for student academic success.  FIS serves on the steering committees of the Belmont Education Collaborative (link to BEC one-pager) and the Valley Education Collaborative (link to VEC one-pager).