Transcripts For KQED Frontline 20140716

A teenager who made the most of her middle school moment. I am incredibly proud of your accomplishments. Oh, miss miller youre gonna make me cry narrator two powerful stories. One exclusive hour of frontline. Frontlinis made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. And by the corporation for public broadcasting. Major support for frontliis provided by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information is available at macfound. Org. Additional support is provided by the park foundation, dedicated to heightening Public Awareness of critical issues. The ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. At fordfoundation. Org. The wyncote foundation. And by the frontline journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. And Additional Support from susan hunter and Douglas Watson and the orfalea foundation. Caleb. Caleb. Come on, get up. Narrator Nikki Dangerfield is a single mother with four children. She works long hours as a fedex manager. I get up at the crack of dawn and sometimes i dont get home from work until 6 00, 7 00, maybe 8 00. And then cook dinner, talk to the kids, and then sometimes im talking to them but halfway sleeping. Its like, okay, mama, go to bed. So yes, im very busy, but im only busy for them. You got your workbook . I cannot pay for an education, but i would like for them to get the best Public Education that they could. Narrator half a century ago, her childrens Educational Options would have been limited by their skin color. Baton rouge, like most of the south, had a segregated School System. But after a hardfought civil rights battle, her children now have alternatives to the struggling schools in their own neighborhood. As a whole, i feel that the Public School system has done right by my family. Bye, mom, love you. I love you, too. Have a good day. You, too. Narrator every morning before dawn, the dangerfield kids wait for buses that will carry them to integrated schools throughout baton rouge. I think the benefit of the kids going to schools with different cultures, with children that have different economic backgrounds, they see a better life and they can say, okay, what can i do to have a better life . They can dream bigger. These schools are some of the worst schools in the country. Theyre some of the most violent schools in the country. Nobody is getting educated in these schools. Narrator but not everyone is happy with how busing has changed the schools here. What have they done . Where is their plan to better the schools . Narrator fed up with what they say are dangerous, failing and mismanaged schools, a group of residents has come up with a radical plan. The line actually comes down here. Narrator theyve begun a movement to form an entirely new city out of a large area of suburban neighborhoods, taking part of the East Baton Rouge Parish School System with them. You know, thank you for coming out tonight. voice breaking i see these children here. Thats why were here. These children right here are why were here. Ebrs failed our children for 30plus years. Narrator the new city would be called st. George and would be whiter and more affluent than baton rouge. And starting right here, with this petition right here, we have the opportunity to make a difference. We can do it. So come on up and sign the petition. Thank you. applause weve had enough of failing our children. Were not going to do it anymore, and well go to the length of creating our own city, to create our own education system, to take control back from the status quo. Hey, over here, look the fight hasnt even started yet. The powers that be will do everything that they can do to make this not happen. Narrator it will take roughly 18,000 signatures to get the idea on a ballot, and the group hopes to achieve that by the end of 2014. The idea of breaking away and forming a new School District. Narrator around the country, movements like the one in baton rouge have been spreading over the past several years. There is talk of secession in east dallas. And the city of pelham is thinking about declaring its independence from the Shelby County School System. They say their city should have control over their own schools. Narrator in city after city, parents dissatisfied with their Public School districts are trying to break away. I think it would help out a lot if we, you know, broke off and became our own district. Narrator the goal is to create smaller, Community Oriented School Systems. The city of brookhaven is acting in their own best interest. Narrator but the result is often School Districts that are less racially and economically diverse. They are carving out a section of town that is wealthier and whiter than what they are leaving behind. Narrator critics are concerned that decades after the civil rights victories of the 1960s, the era of School Integration may be coming to an end. If Martin Luther king were to come back and see where we are now, i think he would be shocked to see that the schools are actually more segregated than they were when he died. Narrator professor orfield says that a series of Supreme Court rulings have eroded much of the progress made since the landmark brown v. Board of education decision 60 years ago. The Supreme Court really began to turn backwards decisively on desegregation in 1991. So basically, that began the dismantling of desegregation plans across the country. And almost all of the larger ones have now been dismantled in our big cities. Narrator in baton rouge, the desegregation order was lifted in 2003. The student population is now 11 white, and many in the School District are concerned that number will drop even lower if the st. George proposal succeeds. And that is not fair to the children who remain behind. Narrator belinda davis, a local activist with three children in the baton rouge schools, is vowing to prevent the creation of the new city of st. George. You are automatically going to be creating a city that is less diverse than the one you are leaving, and we have all kinds of Specialized Services in schools that we are able to provide because of the size of our School District. All of that is in jeopardy if this new School System is created. There are about 6,696 students that will be displaced if the new city School District is created. I mean, this is about lives. This is about potential that we are squashing by continuing to carve up our School District. That we could do wonderful things together. Were stronger as one than we are broken up into pieces. Narrator among those fighting to keep the School District intact is baton rouge mayor kip holden. We do not allow a small group of people to divide us, weaken our capital city, bankrupt our future. Narrator but he faces stiff opposition from some of his constituents. Thank you all for the opportunity to address you, and im free to answer any questions that you have. Yes, sir. I was watching the news one night and they had you on tv that you are opposed to this area becoming a st. George city. Yes, sir. And the question is, why would you want to oppose letting the people of this area vote on that issue . Well, because first of all, baton rouge has come too far as a united city. Im against division when its not needed. The city of st. George will still be in the parish of East Baton Rouge Parish. It will not be separating. Well, it will separate in this sense. The plan thats out there will be trying to take money allocated for the whole parish and operate their city. Narrator holden says that the School District relies on the taxes paid by the more affluent neighborhoods now trying to break away, and that without that money, the schools will suffer. What will happen is that the city of baton rouge would have to stand alone. They would not be able to siphon money from the other cities outside of baton rouge thats being paid into the parish. It will be segregated along race lines and class lines. It is going to be devastating to the School System as a whole. A lot of the poor areas will not be receiving the same quality education. Are you saying were supplementing these people right now . Yes. Were supplementing them that be in trouble . Were supplementing each other. I came from a poor background, but yet it was the fact that i was introduced to a broader range of people and things that allowed me to get out of those poor circumstances up to where i am now. I think the frustration lies in the fact that people are fed up with this money that im talking about getting put into the city revenue stream, and were not getting the return on it. Were trying to tell people, you know, its time for us to stick together. Weve come too far. Too much progress has been made to turn that clock back. Narrator to understand what the two sides are fighting over, it helps to look at woodlawn high. Its story is the same as thousands of others. When it was founded in 1949, most of its 286 students lived nearby, and they were all white. How has woodlawn changed over the years . I think all you need to do is go down the hallway by the gym and see the different senior class pictures, and youre going to see the increase in diversity. Thats the main difference that i see, is just greater representation of all peoples in society here. Narrator today, woodlawn has over 1,200 students, and its population is around 60 african american. The school has special programs for gifted and talented students. These are nondiluted acids. Narrator theres an orchestra and marching band. band playing advanced placement classes. And a popular football team. But schools in the district have also been struggling. Around 40 of them are rated d or f, and the state has taken over part of the School System. Woodlawn also has its share of problems. Were a crated school. We made some gains last year. Were excited that were going to probably make some gains this year. Obviously we want to be a b and we want to ultimately be an a. Im proud of what were doing here. Lets go, clear the halls narrator that progress isnt enough for norman browning, the leader of the st. George campaign. Our children arent getting an education. Theyre failing our children because our children are not getting the education they deserve. Narrator browning says that years of busing stemming from the Civil Rights Era have destroyed the sense of community for a lot of baton rouge schools. Parents want schools that their children can go to in their neighborhood. Im against transporting children out of the neighborhoods to go clear across town to go to school. I can look back to my school years, the neighborhood schools, and being sent to the principals office, and the principal saying, boy, you want me to call your daddy . You know, because you know what . I knew he knew my father. Its about bringing community back. Its about bringing schools back to our community. Narrator he is no stranger to woodlawn high. Close to 15 years, ive volunteer coached at woodlawn high school. So my involvement with this campaign really stems from what i saw from the inside the lack of control in the classrooms, the lack of control in the halls. Narrator the school has been plagued with discipline issues 61 arrests in 2013. These are the things that just totally disrupt other students who are there to get an education. Narrator students have even posted videos of fights on youtube. kids shouting brownings group seized on them in a scathing ad. The principal doesnt have the proper people in there to control the students. Theyre babysitting them. Theyre not educating them. Theyre babysitting them. Weve been described as a zoo, even. When you put 1,200 kids in a building with over 90 faculty members, youre going to have conflict. Thats part of. Thats the nature of it. So i take offense to people who say this is a dangerous school, and i really get a little upset when individuals from outside our school characterize us that way and theyve never stepped foot in our school. Well, im a parent of two kids in Public Schools. Im concerned about discipline also. That doesnt mean i want to essentially secede from the union. I want to, you know, work with the principal, work with the parents, and lets see what the problems are. Narrator Domoine Rutledge is the School Districts attorney and was involved in baton rouges desegregation efforts. He says the schools overall have been improving, and its not busing thats been a problem; its that white families have been leaving. You know, its a question of almost which came first, the chicken or the egg. Because without the forced busing, you probably would not have had the white flight. However, you probably would have still had, for too long a period of time, a system that was not desegregated, which was the mandate. Weve got to desegregate these schools, and weve got to have everybody embrace the concept that regardless of color, we can go to School Together and get along and get educated. Narrator thats exactly the opportunity Nikki Dangerfields kids are taking advantage of. She says the East Baton Rouge Parish School System may not be perfect, but it gives them options. My three boys go to three different middle schools, the reason being each school caters to them. Aaron is in the Gifted Program. He goes to one of the middle schools. They have the best Gifted Program in baton rouge. Zephaniah goes to a school that has smaller classroom settings because thats what he needs. Caleb is in performing arts, so he goes to mckinley middle. That is a performing arts school. Narrator but if the new city of st. George happens, many of the districts schools would become part of it, including woodlawn high, which is where aaron would like to go because despite its problems, its rated better than the high school in his neighborhood. Id like to go to woodlawn high because it has a Gifted Program and a football team, so i can be able to play High School Football at the same time as i focus on my work in school. I want a high school that has sports programs and has, like, science programs and technology programs. Narrator dangerfields oldest daughter, joy, was her high school valedictorian. Today, shes a student at lsu. My mom was talking to me about the School Choices for my little brother aaron, and, you know, she was telling me how much he wanted to attend woodlawn high. You cant master the game unless you put it on allmadden. My mom talked to the secretary, and she explained to her that, you know, he couldnt attend that school because he doesnt live in that area and then that they were pulling away. And so she told my little brother aaron and he was really upset because he was, like, well, mom, thats the only school i want to go to. If st. George happened, theyre going to take the better schools with them. Youre no longer giving other kids a choice. Narrator its not just that kids like aaron wouldnt be able to enroll at woodlawn; theres fear that some students already enrolled there, many of them poor and minorities, could be asked to leave. I would assume that if boundaries change, there may be some students who would no longer attend this school. Certainly as principal of woodlawn high school, i want to attract students to our school as opposed to losing any students. So it would be. It would be sad. Im sorry. Because as principal, you grow attached to every student you have, and i would hate to see anyone leave. So the saddest thing to me would be for kids to not have the opportunity to express their own opinions about where they want to go to school. East baton rouge parish was probably the best Public School system in the 60s and early 70s. Narrator state senator bodi white has already helped another neighborhood split off and form its own School System. Hes a longtime opponent of federally mandated busing. The federal government, through their actions, i think the forced busing, it just destroyed the School System. Narrator the fight to desegregate the baton rouge schools was one of the longest in the nation. For 15 years, beginning in 1981, the School District was forced to bus its children to achieve integration. And ill use me as an example. I had a choice to put my fiveyearold daughter on a school bus and give her an hour bus ride to a school that was two to three years behind the National Average in testing. Busing children forced the middle class and upper middle class families to drop out of Public Education. You saw a mass exodus of white families from the School System. Unfortunately, too many of them decided, we fear the unknown and were not going to do it. Narrator today, while there is no federally forced busing, parents can still have their children bused to better schools around baton rouge. With the st. George proposal, rutledge is worried baton rouge is taking a step backwards. The end result of that is it excludes children, and those children are minority children. Those children are black children. We have done a full throttle reversal in this community, and we are resegregating our School System. Narrator the issue has become deeply divisive. When i read headlines such as the fact that this is nothing but a secession to get away from the lowincome citizens as well as making it a race issue, its extremely disturbing to me. This is nothing more than a middleclass community incorporating a city. Thank you, we appreciate it. Yes, ive been called a racist, and in no uncertain terms. Im not a racist. I cant, you know. Im not going to try to attempt to defend it. What i do is i let my actions speak, and how i conduct myself and how i treat people speak. Narrator the st. George advocates argue that the racial and financial implications of their plan are being exaggerated. But the opponents point to a 2013 analysis by lsu economists which predicts the new city would be around 70 white and leave baton rouge with a big annual deficit. People who do things that have racial implications always say that race has nothing to do with it. I mean, im not judging what their personal motivations are, but nobody ever says, we intentionally just want to discriminate when they do something that will have the effect of deepening inequality. Narrator despite the opposition, the petition to make st. George a reality is picking up steam. At the end of 2013, the group said it had over 9,000 signatures half of whats needed to get the issue put on a ballot. Narrator the reverend c. L. Bryant, a tea party activist, came to baton rouge to support the st. George movement. Amen. Hello, my fellow louisianians. You have, i believe, a very unique opportunity. You have people who want to divide us down racial lines. You must do what is right for your pocketbook, and dont you be afraid of what they call you. Dont you allow anyone to turn you back from that. Americans, i would ask you to stand up stand up im happy to see all of you tonight. These folks are trying to do whats right, and as we go through this campaign, theres a lot of pressure. There will be a lot of folks trying to scare you. Thats the name of the game, its called intimidation. The middle class in this parish, youre taking back control of your kids and your destiny. This evening made me very sad. That basically theyre now talking about this, you know, in terms of income and that its okay to segregate yourself from poor people. And that it is okay for you to do what is right for your pocketbook without thinking about your entire community and the people that youre harming in the process. It was. It was very sad. Good turnout. Oh, i expected that. This group of white parents want to have the best for their children, and forget about anybody else. Narrator state representative Patricia Smith has been a vocal opponent of the effort to create the new School District. The proponents of the School District dont like to hear this, but its totally going to be segregation. When you look at the children who will be removed from the East Baton Rouge Parish School System, children who are going to go into this new st. George, the majority of children are white, and the majority of children that will be removed from st. George will be black. Do you think that you have to bus children all over, bus them long distance, so you can say you sit in a seat next to someone diverse, different from yourself . The justice department, you know, they achieved their goal. Who can say were not desegregated . We have an africanamerican president , we have an africanamerican mayor here in baton rouge with a majority white in the parish. Weve been through all that. We need to let us go back and rebuild our schools now. I believe that folks are beginning to get in their heads, many conservatives are saying, we have a black president , so we dont have to worry about anything else dealing with black folk across the country. That is not true. Were now beginning to realize that you can never stop the fight for racial equality. You can never stop that fight. I think baton rouge as a whole will suffer. Not just our schools. And i dont think that people should have the right to change history. They are taking resources from people that need them the most. All schools should be created equal. Narrator the st. George advocates say they are getting close to their goal and are within a few thousand signatures of getting on the ballot later this year. This can be wonderful for all of us, for our families. We can have a great city of st. George. It doesnt mean it has to hurt the city of baton rouge. The only one whos going to hurt the city of baton rouge is baton rouge. Im tired of hearing the remarks in the news media and in the paper about how its going to destroy East Baton Rouge Parish, how its going to destroy baton rouge. The only way that happens is if they let it. applause narrator months later, in midmay, the city council would pass a measure designed to stop the st. George petition, and the group has vowed to fight back in court. Weve got a wonderful opportunity here. The state capital cant stop this. The city council cant stop this. Mayor holden cant stop this. As long as we want it. applause narrator coming up next on frontlinas a teen, omarina was part of an Innovative Program to prevent her from dropping out of school. Omarina really struggles with the opportunities she has. Narrator did it work . I cant just think about all the things that are going wrong. I just think about the things that might be going right. Narrator omarinas story begins right now. Dona nobis pacem, pacem dona nobis pace. Narrator its the last day of the semester at the brooks school, an exclusive private academy in north andover, massachusetts. Omarina cabrera is halfway through her sophomore year. I remember first getting here, it definitely was an adjustment. We pray for our families. A lot of kids here are very wealthy and well off, and their parents are very important people. I go back to a twobedroom apartment in the middle of the bronx. And we pray for our school, that we may always be a home for innocence and truth. And then i come here, and the environment was definitely a shock. Give us this day our daily bread. Narrator that she made it here at all is surprising. Without the help of a groundbreaking program in middle school, she probably wouldnt have. sirens weve been following omarina since 2012, when we began examining the dropout crisis in americas highpoverty schools. At that time, she was a student at middle school 244 in the bronx, and she had been struggling. My first year here, me and my mom got evicted. I felt shattered. That was the home that i had for my whole life, and i grew up there. I didnt know what was going to happen next. That period of not knowing wasnt something that i felt comfortable with. I felt this inkling in me that i would never want my children or anyone else to experience this. Narrator shuffled between relatives apartments, some without even electricity, omarina suffered another loss. When i was really young, my father walked out, for whatever reason. I finally got in touch with him. Just before we were about to talk and i was about to go see him, he had gotten a stroke. And i had to leave to the Dominican Republic and see my father for the first time, and it was in a casket. Narrator with her home life in chaos, omarinas school life began to suffer. She didnt know it, but she was starting down a path that so many other young people take. Every year, over a Million Students fail to finish high school. But omarina was lucky her school had recently implemented an Experimental Program designed to catch faltering students like her. Even kids in the most dire circumstances really want a future. They just need to have a path to it. Narrator robert balfanz, one of the nations top education researchers, had been searching for that path for 15 years by studying kids who were dropping out of high school. Then he realized that the key moment when kids begin to go off track was actually in middle school. What does that refer to . Stephanie . When nine divides the parabola into two equal parts. If in the middle grades, you develop habits of not coming to school regularly, of getting in trouble or failing your courses, you bring that with you to high school. And the schools arent designed to help them succeed. Narrator in search of the warning signs that could help schools identify their most atrisk students, balfanz and his team harvested data from dozens of highpoverty schools schools where at least 40 of the kids qualify for governmentsubsidized lunch. We looked at about 40 different variables, and we put that into a big Statistical Analysis and said, we want factors that are highly reliable and also yield a large number of kids in trouble. Narrator and within this chaotic tangle of data, several important indicators stood out. And basically, out of this mix, four came out really strong. And that was our sort of eureka moment. I saw kids waving their hands saying, help. Help me stay on track. Narrator the data showed that if a sixthgrade child in a highpoverty school is absent more than 20 of the time, or fails math or english, or receives an unsatisfactory behavior grade in a core course, there is a 75 chance that they will drop out of high school unless there is decisive intervention. It may seem far less than rocket science, but its something that, in fact, schools by and large have not paid attention to. Narrator but middle school 244 did. At the direction of principal dolores peterson, it became one of the first schools in the nation to put balfanzs theories into action. The balfanz research was so interesting to us because we looked at it and we said, this is a great way to identify our students at a very early stage. Narrator students like omarina, who had been showing up late or not at all. At the beginning, i felt alone and i felt ashamed, and i didnt want to speak to anyone about it. I just isolated myself from everything and everyone. Narrator but the data spoke for omarina. Every week at middle school 244, statistics are collected and reviewed by a team of counselors and teachers. Attendance. Everyones with me . Yes. Lets go to 802. Omarina. How is omarina doing . Narrator the students most in need are flagged. Currently, her mothers not even in the United States right now. She was in a shelter not that long ago. Then they were evicted, so shes having to go between relatives. Narrator a counselor is assigned, and an intervention is organized. I took her home one day, and its like a. Its a double commute. Its a bus to a train. Its on the other side of the world, you can say. I cant tell you how much i worry every time she leaves this building. When she leaves this building, you know, shes on her own. Our students face challenges sometimes that Young Children shouldnt have to face. And they need that support of the adult to help them through it. Its all going to work out, and its. Narrator Catherine Miller was omarinas homeroom teacher. So once omarina was identified, it was imperative on my part as a homeroom teacher, in consultation with the guidance counselor and administration, to discuss why she was coming in late so many times. They came to me and they asked me, whats wrong . Youve been late a lot. Something has to be wrong. And thats when i told ms. Miller that i was evicted. Your mother needs to feel safe, or she needs to feel good about where you are, as do you. And the best we can do right now. We can compile thousands of numbers about whos failing this or whos passing that, but if theres no response to that data, if theres no initiative taken to understand that data, its all for naught. Narrator it became clear that a chaotic home life was the source of omarinas problems at school, and she needed targeted practical support. So youre going to take this one today. Narrator the team helped her figure out routes to school from everchanging addresses, got her a bus pass and books. Ms. Miller told me that i can break through it, that im strong enough, that i have the courage to do it. And the fact that she believed in me, i believed in me. And thats something that a lot of people go through. They need an adult counterforce, someone to say, did you get your work done . Let me make sure you understand it. And also deal with, like, i know youre having trouble with this teacher or that teacher or these kids. Lets work it out. Lets solve it now. Its that sense of shepherding is what the kids need to know that an adult not only cares, but the adult can actually help them. Hows it going at home . Its good. Its not completely settled because of my mom, but i think its calmer than before. My first year here, i had a lot of Different Things going on. I had my brother, who was so smart, and he was just like me. Hes my twin. My brother began to be exposed to a lot of the things that were out there. And not only him, but a lot of us were. Not a lot of kids make the right choice, and that is happening a lot of times in the bronx for a lot of people. Narrator in the summer after sixth grade, omarinas twin brother, omarlin, started hanging out on the streets and getting in trouble. His mother had him moved to another school, thinking hed be safer in a different neighborhood. But when we met him at the end of eighth grade, omarlin was rarely attending school, and his high school plans were uncertain. Where am i going to go to high school . I dont know. I havent gotten a letter yet of acceptance. The fact that he got involved with the streets and the fact that he let the neighborhood influence him, he just began slipping off the mountain, slipping off, slipping off, slipping off. It really was a difficult time for me. However, i think the only reason i got through it was because of support people brang to me, ms. Miller and my guidance counselor. The fact that they told me, youre bright and youre special, and drove me and encouraged me, told me never to quit and never let your dreams end at the corner of sedgwick avenue. I dont think i would be where i am today. applause and i wish my brother could have gone on the journey with me, as well. Narrator soon, omarina had achieved near perfect attendance and had an average in the 90s. Its not a linear, its not a quadratic. Who agrees and why . Omarina. Because when you solve negative b over 2a to get the vertex. Narrator and her teachers encouraged her to apply to some of the nations best high schools. That was your best essay. Read it to me again. I love it typically, young adults look upon a political figure or someone in their life for guidance and support. I, on the other hand, seem to find this inspiration within a blackandwhite street sign. Imprinted on the sign are the words one way. it taunts me with another reminder that coming in is not the obstacle, but making it out. I dont think that me and my brother are on the same road, and i think he fell off and its really sad. The way you take in school is important. He didnt, and thats why were going on different paths, i guess. Any school can use this system to keep kids on track, and whats going to vary from school to school is the extent theyre going to need to recruit an outside second shift of adults to help, and thats going to really just depend on the sheer number of kids. Narrator there are now more schools with intervention programs Like Middle School 244s than when we filmed there two years ago, but they are still very rare in americas highpoverty communities. Thats what makes it so interesting with my brother. I think thats what i would be. I would be not in the school, and i think i would be. I wouldnt care, and the fact that i would get into a college wouldnt be that big of a deal. And the fact that i go on to high school, that wouldnt matter to me. I can get my ged later, thats what i would say. Narrator as middle school was coming to an end, omarina learned shed been accepted at nine competitive high schools. Omarina, im so excited for you. So what did you decide . Which school did you choose . After giving it a lot of thought, i went with brooks. So are you excited . Yeah. I know i am how does it feel, ms. Miller . Its very humbling. And im incredibly proud of your accomplishments. Oh, ms. Miller youre going to make me cry narrator it was a momentous achievement for a girl who was at risk of becoming one of balfanzs statistics just two years earlier. Now it was off to the elite learning environment of brooks, where both the students and the expectations would be very different than what she was used to. The question was, would all the work in middle school pay off here . So weve been keeping track of how omarina and, by comparison, her brother omarlin, have been doing. When i first came here, i was nervous that i was way too different to fit in here. There was a senior who greeted us at the door. She smelled like strawberries. Everyone is really well off and theres people. On their vacation they travel to argentina and they travel to china. So yeah, theres times when you notice little subtle comments, or little subtle things that arent really even meant for. People dont even mean to say them or do them, but they just happen, they just come out because people arent aware or people havent been exposed to certain things. I think they are genuinely curious and genuinely want to know how i do my hair in the morning, or do i think in spanish . Or. I dont know, was i born here . Brooks school is not the same school that she came from in new york. It certainly does not have the same kind of ethnic makeup as what shes used to, so she has, i think, felt out of place at times here. It might be hard at times, and it might feel impossible to change everyones mind about what a girl from the bronx should look like or should act like. I feel like its important to try so that they dont make others feel as uncomfortable as they made me. Narrator in this new environment, the pressure on omarina isnt just social. In the beginning, she says, she struggled to keep up in class. Onezero equals two, oneone equals three. For the first half of the semester, i kept getting these horrible grades, and i didnt understand why. Look at the last digit. I remember getting my first quiz back and almost throwing up because i had a 60 . And i think that was the moment when i realized, yeah, im not getting by if i dont work really, really, really hard. During those times when, you know, it feels like a little bit too much, not even just socially but academically as well and there are those times at brooks, there are those meltdowns i feel like i do have a strong faculty to support me. I have the help of mrs. Ware, i have ms. Miller, who is always with me regardless of where i am. phone ringing miss miller, i call her mama miller. Good morning good morning. What classes do you have this morning . I have algebra ii, latin. Shes seen me grow up. How did you study for the chem test . Just went over my notes. Im very, very, very fortunate to have her. I felt as though it was really imperative to keep very constant contact. Bye, miss miller, love you just to make sure that the adjustment was going well, but also knowing that, you know, many people were rooting for her to be successful here in the bronx. Youre messing with me. Dont take away what i have. Dont you dare do that to me . I messed up. laughs narrator she was determined to succeed, and the teachers at brooks saw her potential. Omarina, what do you need to do to get better . Memorize my lines. Thats the nuts and bolts. Come back later today, and i will have it graded. I had four dorm parents, i had my advisor, i had all my teachers always making sure i was okay, always constantly there. Omarina is not the kind of kid that lets mediocrity rule. Shes not happy with that at all, and so she gets kind of feisty and angry and wants to fix it. And so its been great to kind of watch that growth in her and watch her kind of come into her own that way. I feel like ive widened my perspective so much being here. Ive seen so much ive seen too much, almost to go back to how i was talking and living and acting, and if youd see me in the street, i dont think youd recognize me. So what if i asked you to graph this thing thats changing over time . Well, zero is there so it would go away from it, so it wouldnt be negative. Start negative, zero, positive, zero, negative. I caught up and i got good midterm grades. Im excited about that and im proud. Blessed be god, blessed be our life together. Blessed be our food this night and our fellowship. We ask these things in gods name. Amen. kids talking happily have a great time tonight at the dance. You look amazing. music playing after my freshman year, my sophomore year, now this is a good year. Youre kind of just floating. music continues i just need to keep looking ahead and just keep going, keep moving a step at a time. Narrator but just as omarina was getting on track at brooks, she received a disturbing call. It was a tuesday morning. I feel like you know when somethings wrong. I couldnt ignore the feeling that i had in my stomach. Why are we so powerless to save the people we love . Narrator there was news of her twin brother, omarlin. I immediately thought, is he dead . Just tell me if hes dead. I want to tell you why i did it. Narrator omarlin had been shot. Police said the shooter fled the scene. Her brother survived and was recovering at home. I was scared and sad and disappointed and worried, but i cant show that to him. I feel like. And it is hard sometimes, but i cant show him that im scared. I cant show him that im sad or im disappointed, because he doesnt need that. He needs someone there to be strong for him. Narrator that someone most often has to be omarina herself, because their mother is frequently not at home. There was no question that she was going to go down and be with her family. Omarina really struggles with the opportunities she has at brooks and kind of this path thats been laid out for her. You really saw the disparities in the worlds that she balances in that moment where she was so concerned about his safety and his family and making sure someone was going to be there for him because her mother was out of town. And she knows that her brothers kind of stuck at home in this world thats full of vices and difficulty. I think that with that guilt comes feeling more responsible and feeling like she wants to do everything she can to help. Narrator so omarina makes regular trips home to the bronx, juggling the competing demands of her schoolwork and her sense of responsibility to her brother. Hey laughing where were you . I try very hard not to ever cry in front of him. I hope he does realize that i do care and thats why i do the things i do and thats why i always nag him. Did you get transferred or are you still in the process . Whats going to happen with that . Its not going to take long, right . When it first started was seventh grade, when his education got hurt because he began, you know, getting involved with something he did get involved. It made me uncertain and it made me worry because i know where this is headed. I mean, i dont think. I think everyone knows where this is headed, and people can be ignorant to it but i know where this is headed, and what he needs is intervention. Narrator omarlin is reluctant to talk about whats going on in his life, or about the bullet that could have ended it. Narrator so while omarina is finishing her sophomore year at brooks, omarlin, who is 16 years old, is still in the ninth grade. At the time of filming, he had only shown up for school five times all year. We actually know that kids are resilient, and so it still makes sense to have strong Recovery Efforts in high school and Strong High School Reform Efforts and youll still be able to turn kids around, put them back on track. But it gets much harder. Narrator in late february 2014, omarlin was charged with carrying a knife. Two weeks later, he was charged with possession of ecstasy and marijuana. The cases are pending. I handle stress in different ways. When i get to brooks, i use it as almost my getaway. I cant just think and think and think and think about all the things that are going wrong. I just think about the things that might be going right. Narrator next time. My dad got laid off. Its tough because my mom and dad are poor. I live in a shelter. I wish i never lived here. My mom kind of made a wrong turn. whispering im hungry. whispering i know, so am i. I think when i get older, things are going to get harder than they are now. People dont realize what they have until its gone. Go to pbs. Org frontline for more on the debate over community schools. Its about bringing schools back to our community. How segregated are american schools today . Find out more. Watch our 2012 film on the middle school moment. What if you could change the future for kids on a fast track to dropping out of school . And connect to thfrontline community, sign up for our newsletter, and follow us on facebook, twitter and pbs. Org frontline. Frontlinis made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. And by the corporation for public broadcasting. Major support for frontliis provided by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information is available at macfound. Org. Additional support is provided by the park foundation, dedicated to heightening Public Awareness of critical issues. The ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. At fordfoundation. Org. The wyncote foundation. And by the frontline journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. And Additional Support from susan hunter and Douglas Watson and the orfalea foundation. For more on this and other frontline programs, visit our website at pbs. Org frontline. Frontlineseparate and unequal is available on dvd. To order, visit shoppbs. Org. Or call 1800playpbs. Frontline is also available for download on itunes. Theres just something about them that just makes you fall in love with them. Theyre your children. Ferrets are children with little fur coats. Well, theyre definitely family. Joe seems to think i spoil my ferrets, but to me, i think theyre just right. Every once in a while, if you hold em just right, theyll kiss you on the nose, or or lick you, or Something Like that. If i went to my psychiatrist and said, yes, i understand what my ferrets are saying, id be on little funnycolored pills. They are my family. I just cant imagine life without them. To me, ferrets are the reason for being. I cant put it any more simply