Test Case

By David Hill

Like a lot of high school seniors, Rasheda Daniel spends much of her time thinking about college. A 12th grader at Inglewood High School, not far from Los Angeles International Airport, Rasheda has her heart set on nearby Loyola Marymount University. "I just love that school," she says. Some of her friends have also applied there, and they hope to room together as freshmen. Rasheda, a rail-thin 17-year-old with a quick wit and a flair for the theatrical, has already picked out the décor. "It's going to have all inflatable furniture," she says, "and lava lamps!"

Rasheda is an honor-roll student at Inglewood High, which serves about 2,000 working-class kids, nearly all of whom are either Latino or African American. About 25 percent of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. Academically, Inglewood ranks in the bottom 10 percent of public schools in California, as measured by a new state rating system.

Until recently, the school offered just three Advanced Placement courses, in English, government, and U.S. history. Rasheda took the history class last year and is currently enrolled in the other two courses. Meanwhile, her peers at Beverly Hills High School, about 10 miles away, choose from more than a dozen AP courses, including chemistry, physics, biology, computer science, and calculus. Of course, not all schools are created equal. Even in a state like California, where public school spending is largely equalized, there are still the haves and the have-nots. It's no surprise that affluent Beverly Hills High, which prides itself on rigorous academic standards and high expectations, offers so many AP courses. But why shouldn't students like Rasheda...