THE BLACK EDUCATION COMMISSION: ITS GENESIS, STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION WITHIN THE LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT, 1970 - 1979

It was the purpose of this study to conduct an analysis of the genesis, structure and function of the Black Education Commission (BEC), an arm of the Board of Education of the Los Angeles Unified School District.;The day-to-day activities of the Commission, though they might have revealed much in the way of the tasks which have been handled by it, were not here the focus. It was more to determine through an analysis of official Board records, the extent to which the Commission has realized its function. That extent was partially contained in the Board's records of adopted actions on BEC recommendations. It was also to be found through conducting interviews with persons who have participated in the organization.;The study was an exploratory one of the ex-post-facto variety. The methodology employed several sources of data collection: (1) Content analysis of Board adopted actions on BEC recommendations; (2) Content analysis of adopted actions by Board committees on BEC recommendations; (3) Qualitative analysis of supportive documents: Various Board, BEC and Public communications; (4) Analysis of structured questionnaires sent to present Commissioners of the BEC who have had a record of five years of participation; (5) Analysis of structured interviews with a purposive sample of BEC organizers and executive officers considered to have had a significant influence on the Commission.;Though the study was designed to cover the period from 1970 to June of 1979, overlapping events within the genesis-structure-function topics made strict adherence to chronology of secondary importance. More important was the content to be analyzed.;The problem was that of determining how the BEC, given the nature of its structure, functioned during the 1970 - 1979 period: it has operated as a recommending body to the Board of Education of the District.;Analyses of the data bore out what the hypotheses had generated about the problem: (1) Creation of the BEC was an attempt by the Los Angeles Board of Education to maintain a comfortable internal balance. (2) Conflicts within the BEC itself have diverted it from attaining its goals.;The highlight of the study was revealing evidence obtained from political forces which had not only been instrumental in initiating the BEC, but had also supported action against the Board in the case of Crawford, vs. the Board of the Los Angeles Unified School District.;In view of the unsteady and yet unsettled state of affairs in the District with regard to ethnic minorities, the policy recommendations developed by the study aided in promoting its worth. Recommendations addressed the following major issues as they related to the BEC: (1) Autonomy; (2) Communication; (3) Goal setting; (4) Community representation; (5) Evaluation; (6) Accountability.