Millions of low income and minority students go to high schools that are notably inferior in virtually every dimension to schools educating middle class students. During the last few decades there have been sweeping changes in state and national policy on education, moving towards more rigorous standards for high school completion and college entry while aid to education has been cut in Washington, D.C. Los Angeles adopted such a policy, which is founded upon the absurd assumption that equal opportunity is available in the high schools of metropolitan Los Angeles. In Los Angeles there are large disparities in test performance between city and suburban high schools: low income, minority high schools are consistently outperformed by higher income, white high schools. This pattern is especially evident between the years 1980 and 1986, when the minority population in Los Angeles increased sharply. There is a strong relationship between minority enrollment, low income, parental achievement, and school test performance. The greater the difference in minority versus white enrollment in metropolitan high schools, the greater the income and test differences that occur. Minority, low income high school students are victims of inequitable educational opportunities that deny them future success in the working world and that makes future victims of their children. Data are presented on 15 tables. Appendices compare academic performance by school, subject, and year, and display results of regression analysis of the data. (BJV)