The Battle Over Crenshaw

Lena Jackson
Social Documentation/ Film and Digital Media
UC Santa Cruz

This project explores the reconstitution of Los Angeles Crenshaw High School as part of the broader trend of school closures and privatization in American public education. Reconstitution of public schools was a key feature of education reform under President Obama, whose administration sought to turn around the nation’s lowest-performing schools. This turn-around consists of firing and replacing school staff and turning the school over to a private company, charter organization, or in the case of Crenshaw, converting it to three magnet schools. This decision faced concerted resistance from community members who wanted to save a neighborhood institution from reforms imposed unilaterally by the district. This film project documents a grassroots movement that stood opposed to the privatization of public schooling.