EDITORIAL BEST IS BRIGHTEST TO REDUCE LAUSD DROPOUT RATES, EXPAND AFTER-SCHOOL AND INTERVENTION PROGRAMS.

THE mayor, the superintendent of schools, various politicians and much of the citizenry have wrung their hands these last few months over how to reduce the LAUSD's shameful dropout rate.

But a key part of the solution has been with us for 16 years: LA's BEST.

The proof is in the results.

According to a study from the Center for Research on Evaluations, Standards and Student Testing, the LA's BEST youth-intervention program reduces the high-school dropout rate by as much as 20 percent among its participants.

Is that any surprise?

Efforts to intervene in kids' lives, to give them options and to meet their needs make a profound difference.

Los Angeles' Better Educated Students for Tomorrow, which began at just eight schools in 1988, offers students in poorer communities what they need most - extra help with schoolwork, constructive activities after school and quality time with adults who care about them and their lives.

The benefits extend far beyond test scores and diplomas. Research shows that educational attainment positively affects all other facets of life - income, civic engagement, health practices, staying away from crime. When we get kids to remain in and finish high school, we create better citizens, stronger families and healthier communities.

The success of LA's BEST, which is administered by the Los Angeles Unified School District but funded through grants and private donations, is a testament to the visionaries who founded it and the leaders who have kept it going. It was formed under the leadership of Mayor Tom Bradley, and has been supported by every mayor since. Last year, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa donated the proceeds from his inaugural gala to extend the program to 17 more schools, and promised Thursday to raise $7 million more to fund LA's BEST in 17 additional schools in the coming year.

But if there is one problem with LA's BEST, it's the program's limited scope. Currently LA's BEST serves only 147 of the LAUSD's 431 elementary schools. Clearly if its reach could be broadened, that many more kids will ultimately decide to stay in school and graduate from high school.

LAUSD Superintendent Roy Romer has proposed a series of reforms to help curb dropouts in the LAUSD, and given LA's BEST's success, extending the program should certainly be part of the final package. The investment would almost surely pay for itself, as the LAUSD's funding is based on attendance.

For all the grand school reform schemes currently under consideration - most notably breakup and mayoral control - no reform would deliver as immediate relief than to increase this proven program. The result would not only be a lower dropout rate, but reduce gang membership, crime and poverty, too.

L.A. needs a lot more of its BEST.