* Story has been updated to include San Diego Unified as one of seven California districts participating in the initiative.

Vii California school districts are among 60 in the nation that are joining President Barack Obama's initiative, "My Brother's Keeper," which supports African-American and Latino boys, beginning in preschool.

Collectively, the districts brainwash a tertiary or more of the nation'southward African-American and Latino students and nearly 40 percentage of low-income boys of color, co-ordinate to a printing release issued today by the Council of the Peachy City Schools, based in Washington, D.C.

The California districts, all unified, are Los Angeles, San Diego*, Long Beach, Fresno, San Francisco, Sacramento City and Oakland.

The districts pledge to acquit out 11 specific actions, including:

  • Ensuring that preschool efforts meliorate serve African-American and Latino boys.
  • Implementing policies that increase the number of boys from these groups who graduate from high school and complete the federal class for college assistance.
  • Keeping data and monitoring the progress of these boys and intervening at the earliest warning signs of bug.
  • Reducing the proportion of African-American and Latino boys who are absent-minded, suspended or expelled.

Some of the California districts have already taken steps included in the initiative. Los Angeles and San Francisco have led the manner in eliminating "willful defiance" every bit a reason to suspend or expel students because they considered it subjective and data showed that it was used unduly against African-American students. Oakland Unified has an African-American Male person Achievement initiative.

50.A. Unified Superintendent John Deasy and the commune's lath have been outspoken supporters of the Obama initiative.

"Information technology was an honor to stand with President Obama and school lath members from across the nation as we pledged to make existent what is already the new reality in Los Angeles: we will support our young men of color as we collectively transform outcomes through changes in policy, investments, but most of all mindsets," said L.A. Unified'due south board Vice President Steve Zimmer in a press release.

The annunciation listed a wide range of businesses and nonprofits that will be supporting the initiative, including Palo Alto-based Emerson Collective, founded by the tardily Steve Jobs' wife, Laurene Powell Jobs. The commonage, which has pledged $fifty million to the effort, plans to launch a competition to develop the all-time designs for next generation high schools.

"My Brother'south Keeper" is about "helping more of our young people stay on rails, providing the support they demand to think more broadly about their future," Obama said while unveiling the initiative in February. He called on educators to build on what works "when information technology works, in those disquisitional life-changing moments."

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