COUNCIL HOPEFULS BACK LAUSD SPLIT.Byline: Yvette Cabrera Daily News Staff Writer A majority of the six candidates vying for the 7th District City Council seat voiced their support for breaking up 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. on Tuesday at their second forum in less than a week. Two candidates, Alex Padilla Alex Padilla is a politician in California. He was elected as the State Senator for the 20th District of California in November 2006 and was inaugurated in early December. In order to enter the Senate he had to resign as Councilman for the 7th District on the Los Angeles City and Barbara Perkins, were the lone voices calling for reform of the current school system before resorting to a split-up of the mammoth 650,000-student district. ``The bottom line is our children are not succeeding, they're not reading,'' said Perkins, former executive assistant to Mission Community College President William Norlund. ``I'm not too sure if breaking up makes it work. We have to make it work where it is right now.'' About 75 senior citizens and residents attended the forum at the Northeast Valley Multipurpose mul·ti·pur·pose adj. Designed or used for several purposes: a multipurpose room; multipurpose software. multipurpose Adjective Senior Center. Write-in candidate Noun 1. write-in candidate - a candidate for public office whose name does not appear on the ballot and so must be written on the ballot by the voters write-in campaigner, candidate, nominee - a politician who is running for public office Connie Acebo Rodriguez also participated. The candidates are vying for a two-year term in the seat left vacant by the election of Richard Alarcon to the state Senate. Perkins drew applause when she criticized the LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) for paying administrators too much and advocated redirecting those funds to prepare teachers. Padilla called for more classroom discipline, parental involvement and accountability for school staff members. ``Breaking up the school district alone is not going to solve the problems,'' said Padilla, an aide to Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, D-Panorama City. Rodriguez, a teacher-outreach worker, and Ollie McCaulley, a governmental relations director, were concerned about inclusion of the Northeast Valley. ``If we're going to break away, make sure the Northeast Valley is included,'' said Rodriguez. ``As a teacher I would support breaking away from the city of Los Angeles
McCaulley cautioned against a district that lumps the western or central portions of the Valley together. ``Our tax dollars are just as great as those on the Westside and we all need to get our fair share,'' he said. Candidate Corinne Sanchez advocated higher teacher pay, greater family involvement and community-based programs to work with youth in the schools. ``I, for one, believe the school system has terribly failed our children. They cannot read, they cannot add,'' said Sanchez, who heads up the community service organization El Proyecto del Barrio bar·ri·o n. pl. bar·ri·os 1. An urban district or quarter in a Spanish-speaking country. 2. A chiefly Spanish-speaking community or neighborhood in a U.S. city. in Arleta. ``(The district) is too big. It's not doing its job.'' Candidate Tony Lopez said the district was unresponsive to local needs. ``Hillary Clinton said it best. It takes a village to raise a child and it's so true,'' said Lopez, district director for the Boy Scouts of America Noun 1. Boy Scouts of America - a corporation that operates through a national council that charters local councils all over the United States; the purpose is character building and citizenship training . In other developments Tuesday, Sanchez won the endorsement of County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. |
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