ANTONIO LAUNCHES WEB SITE TO PUSH FOR LAUSD REFORM.Byline: RICK ORLOV Staff Writer Stepping up his campaign to push reform of the Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. , Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa (born Antonio (Tony) Ramon Villar, Jr. on January 23, 1953) is the mayor of Los Angeles, California. He is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristobal Aguilar in 1872. launched a Web site Thursday that he hopes will bring together an army of parents to put pressure on state officials. At a news conference at a South Los Angeles South Los Angeles is the official name for a large geographic and cultural area lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central Los Angeles, and is still sometimes called South Central. charter school, where officials said they have been in a constant fight with the LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) administration, Villaraigosa and supporters said they were fighting the status quo [Latin, The existing state of things at any given date.] Status quo ante bellum means the state of things before the war. The status quo to be preserved by a preliminary injunction is the last actual, peaceable, uncontested status which preceded the pending controversy. of an entrenched en·trench also in·trench v. en·trenched, en·trench·ing, en·trench·es v.tr. 1. To provide with a trench, especially for the purpose of fortifying or defending. 2. bureaucracy in what one called a moral war. Villaraigosa said the site -- www.excellenceinlaschools.com -- will serve as a clearinghouse for information on his plan. ``There has been a lot of misinformation mis·in·form tr.v. mis·in·formed, mis·in·form·ing, mis·in·forms To provide with incorrect information. mis put out about what we are doing,'' Villaraigosa said. ``This will be a place were we can counter that and also where people can come together to voice their opinions on what is needed.'' The mayor said he believes he has tapped into broad public dissatisfaction with the LAUSD, but needs wide support to get his reform legislation approved and signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenneger. The bill, AB 1381, passed its first committee vote Wednesday in the state Senate but still has at least one more committee review before it will be considered by the full Senate and then go to the Assembly to review. ``We are not over by a long shot,'' Villaraigosa said. ``It is going to be a fight all the way.'' The mayor was joined by City Councilman Jose Huizar, who served on the district's school board until this year, when he was elected to the council. ``I can tell you from personal experience that there is no accountability over there,'' Huizar said. ``I can tell you from personal experience that there is resistance to even examining change.'' Huizar said he ran into strong opposition when he joined then-City Council President Alex Padilla to create a commission to review how the district is run. ``People think we are doing this as a dollars-and-cents issue, that it will be good for the economy or find jobs for young people,'' Huizar said. ``But this is more than that. This is a moral issue on how we treat our children.'' rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com (213) 978-0390 |
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