Information Center - Media: "Learning: Berkeley High tried to lift urban black and Latino pupils to the level of high-performing Asians and whites. But a sizable divide persists.
BERKELEY -- Here in one of the best-educated corners of America, this city's sole public high school suffers a split personality: One exhibits a steady stream of National Merit Scholars, the other an undercurrent of failure.
Viki Rasmussen is a product of one Berkeley High School. The confident 17-year-old took an array of college-level courses before graduating in the spring and leaving last week to attend Brown University. Viki is white.
LaShawna Candies is a product of the other Berkeley High. The 15-year-old, timid and self-doubting, returned last week to start her sophomore year. As a freshman she scored Fs in most subjects, and reads at a second-grade level. She may never be able to decipher a job application, let alone a college text. LaShawna is black.
Attending one of America's most reputable urban high schools is just about all Viki and LaShawna have in common. The two girls came through the schoolhouse gate, just blocks from California's flagship university, with vastly different backgrounds and skills. Rather than equalize their opportunities, though, Berkeley High may have succeeded only in maintaining even widening the academic chasm between them.
"This despite the best of intentions."
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