Long Beach Unified School District

The school district is the third largest in California and serves one of the most diverse large cities in the United States.

More than two-thirds of the student population come from lower-income households and qualify for free and reduced price meals.

As a result, LBUSD was losing money, because state education funds were paid based on attendance.

[7] Some researchers, including David Brunsma of the Sociology Department of University of Missouri, have said that the benefits ascribed to the implementation of the LBUSD uniform policy were logically attributable to other factors; such as increased school security, collateral attendance enforcement efforts, and in-class programs designed to bolster sagging test scores.

[10] In 1999, Jefferson Leadership Academies became the first public middle school in the United States to convert entirely to single gender classes.

Only a few dozen more schools have followed this trend, mostly because of Title IX of the 1972 Education Act, which prohibits sex discrimination in federally funded programs.

After gathering the required number of petition signatures and an LA County review, the issue went before the California State Board of Education.

With that setback, the most current plans (as of 2005[update]) are to try to merge those areas of Lakewood served by Paramount into either the Bellflower or Long Beach Unified School Districts.

[14] In 2004, LBUSD received a second grant from the Broad Foundation for $1.14 million to continue their efforts to improve the organization of the district's schools using Baldrige strategies.