School Proposals

By Jim Hahn

School Construction & After School Programs

Los Angeles City Attorney and mayoral candidate Jim Hahn today unveiled a plan to build new schools quickly and efficiently to ease overcrowding in Los Angeles public schools. Hahn's plan would create a Joint Powers Authority between the city and the school district to focus solely on school construction. Hahn outlined his plan in front of Hoover Elementary School, which serves 2,600 students and still buses 500 neighborhood children to the Valley, West Los Angeles, East Los Angeles, and South Central. "Overcrowding has become one of the most significant obstacles standing between our children and a quality education," said Hahn, who was joined at the press conference by Hoover Elementary School Principal Marie Leyva and parent volunteer Ernestine Mansour.

"Step one in my plan to improve public education is to create a Joint Powers Authority between the city and the school district that would solely focus on finding sites for and building new schools."

As mayor, Hahn would propose and negotiate establishment of the Joint Powers Authority. Under state law, any two or more governmental agencies can create a joint powers authority to combine their power and authority. Examples of other local joint powers authorities include the Pasadena Blue Line and the Alameda Corridor.

The greatest benefits of a Joint Powers Authority would be its singular purpose of finding sites for and building schools. With the Joint Powers Authority focused on school construction, the school district can spend less time worrying about classroom space and busing, and more time attending to its primary responsibility of providing the highest quality education for our children. The Joint Powers Authority would combine the authority held by the city, the district, and the school board to get the job of building new schools done more quickly and efficiently. The Joint Powers Authority would also bring together expertise in a range of areas currently lacking in the current school construction process, including school construction, engineering and land acquisition, environmental issues, housing, and governmental affairs.

Currently, over 14,000 students in Los Angeles are bused out of their neighborhoods. That number is expected to rise to 30,000 by 2003 and to 80,000 by 2008. Many schools are on multi-track, year-round schedules to accommodate a large number of local students. This means Los Angeles students are attending school for longer hours and fewer days, putting them at an academic disadvantage and making schools ineligible for state funding provided to schools for adding instructional days proposed in the state's education plan.

AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS

Los Angeles City Attorney and mayoral candidate Jim Hahn today announced his plan to expand after school programs to every elementary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Hahn made his announcement at Selma Avenue Elementary School in Hollywood where students are served by the L.A.'s BEST program, which gives students the opportunity to participate in supervised activities such as organized sports, drama, and homework club. "Today I am proposing to expand L.A.'s BEST to every elementary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District because every child should have the opportunity to participate in high quality and fun after school programs," said Hahn.

Hahn was joined by parents and students from Selma Avenue Elementary School, including Rowena Smith who credits the L.A.'s BEST program for helping to boost her son Jason's confidence at school and for providing a positive environment where students can work together on homework. Another parent, Maria Ruvalcava, is hoping her child will soon be admitted into the L.A.'s BEST program from the waiting list.

Currently, L.A.'s BEST serves 76 elementary schools and 150 additional schools are served by other after school programs. Hahn's plan would expand L.A.'s BEST to serve the 201 schools that do not have after school programs.

Hahn proposed to fund the additional L.A.'s BEST sites by pursuing the many state and federal grants available for after school programs. He noted that Los Angeles misses out on state and federal funding for its programs. For example, last year the U.S. Department of Education's 21st Century Fund made available $846 million for after school programs. San Francisco received $2.5 million from this fund, while Los Angeles received just $715,000 # even though the Los Angeles Unified School District serves more than 12 times as many K-12 students as the San Francisco Unified School District.

"That's less than one dollar per student," said Hahn. "The city can and should help secure additional funding for after school programs."

As mayor, Hahn would establish a central grant supervisor to provide direction and support for after school program grant applications. He also pledged to personally lobby legislators in Sacramento and Washington to ensure Los Angeles receives its fair share of funding for after school programs.