The civil rights revolution in the South never really arrived in Southern California,

Gary Orfield on failed L.A. deseg

Southern California is home to what is by far the nation's largest population of Latinos, the second largest Asian population and the West's largest population of African Americans but... 

"If one compares the outcomes in the "dropout factory" schools, where the major product is dropouts or students totally unprepared for college, with the kind of opportunities that exist in schools serving affluent communities, it seems they could be serving different countries. The fact that California's level of public funding for schools has become one of the worst in the U.S. makes the private resources more affluent communities can give their schools all the more important."  -- Huffington