ICEF "Education Corridor" Will Enroll 1 in 4 Students with Goal of Creating Vibrant, Sustainable Middle Class

Los Angeles, CA – In an unprecedented reform plan for South Los Angeles, ICEF Public Schools — a network of 13 high-performing public schools that serves the predominately African-American community of South Los Angeles — has announced its plan today to dramatically scale up its "Education Corridor" — the 45-square-mile region bound by the four major South Los Angeles freeways — through the creation of 22 new public charter schools.

ICEF Public Schools will expand from 13 to 35 public charter schools in four years. When fully enrolled, ICEF Public Schools will enroll one in four public school students in South Los Angeles, more than half of the community's high school students, and will help produce 2,000 college graduates each year. ICEF's expansion plans will serve to alleviate its incredible demand: The waitlist to enroll has at times exceeded 6,000 students.

ICEF's "Education Corridor" plan is unique among charter management organizations and other reform efforts, many of which have a statewide or national focus, in that it will concentrate all its efforts on a defined geographic region that is one of the nation's most underserved communities. Also, unlike most charter schools, ICEF's schools, which begin with kindergarten and go up to high school, will focus on educating students beginning with the first day they enroll in school through graduation.

Currently, fewer than 10 percent of all incoming high school freshmen in the community between the 405, 110, 105 and 10 freeways receive their college diplomas. The dropout rate for existing public high schools in this region is more than 50 percent.

"With fewer than one in 10 ninth-graders receiving a college degree, our lack of prepared youth is preventing us from creating a sustainable middle class," said Michael D. Piscal, founder of ICEF Public Schools. "Our 'Education Corridor' will create as many high-performing public schools as it takes to prepare enough of our youth to compete and succeed at the top 100 colleges and universities in our nation. Armed with a good education, it is our hope that many of our students will return home to our community, prepared to be a part of an economic and social transformation of South Los Angeles."

ICEF's 13 public charter schools, including its three flagship View Park Preparatory charter schools, serve more than 3,000 students. Its track record of success for African-American students includes two graduating classes, with every single graduate accepted to a college or four-year university. None of the students who began their ninth grade with ICEF – which features a rigorous academic program – dropped out of high school.

Out of every Los Angeles public high school, View Park Prep most significantly outperforms its nearby high schools serving predominantly African-American students.

"ICEF has an incredible success rate, and I believe its Education Corridor will drive a fundamental transformation of education in South L.A. – and in the community itself," said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. "I believe this Education Corridor will kick their work into overdrive, transforming the South L.A. community itself into one where every child goes to college."

"ICEF is well-positioned to dramatically overhaul the educational environment in South Los Angeles through its 'Education Corridor,' especially since they've spent a decade proving their model and establishing themselves in the community," said Guilbert C. Hentschke, Cooper Chair in Public School Administration at USC's Rossier School of Education. "This unprecedented approach of concentrating their efforts on such a defined and underserved geographic region, and enrolling kids beginning in kindergarten and educating them through graduation potentially lays the groundwork for a national model for reform."

ICEF's plan is also unique in that it combines a high-quality, rigorous educational program with plans for community development. ICEF has spent more than $10 million with community-based, minority-owned businesses since 1996, as well as deposited over $50 million in the black-owned, Broadway Federal Bank during that time.  As ICEF expands and students attend and graduate college, South Los Angeles will begin to see an influx of college-educated youth equipped to transform its community, beginning with the first View Park Prep Class in 2011.

ICEF Public Schools will begin submitting its charter petitions to area school districts later this month.

About ICEF Public Schools
ICEF Public Schools (Pronounced "Eye-ceff," for the Inner City Education Foundation) was founded in 1994 to transform the Los Angeles community by creating first-rate educational opportunities for its minority youth. ICEF currently operates 13 public charter schools, including four new schools which opened this fall, with the goal of preparing its students to attend and compete academically at the top colleges and universities in the nation. ICEF's flagship school, View Park Preparatory Charter High School, has now graduated two classes, with 100 percent of its graduates accepted to college.