GINGRICH TELLS L.A. IT DESERVES TOP SCHOOLS; GOP LEADER ENDORSES EDUCATION REVOLUTION.

Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer

House Speaker Newt Gingrich, echoing a call of Mayor Richard Riordan, said Tuesday that Los Angeles should demand reforms of an educational system that has become a catastrophe.

``The mayor told me that only 12 percent of high school students in the inner city can read at an eighth-grade level,'' Gingrich, R-Ga., said in a speech to the Town Hall Los Angeles public policy forum. ``That's a catastrophe of our civilization and you should demand reforms.

``It's a simple test. If these were your kids, what would you be doing to help them? The city of Los Angeles ought to insist on an overhaul of your system. Every child has a God-given right to be able to read, to write and to be a success.''

To encourage reforms, Gingrich said he would like to see a voucher system where parents can pick the school their child attends as a way to see public schools improve through competition.

Riordan, since his re-election this year, has focused more attention on the Los Angeles Unified School District in attempting to bring about reforms. Earlier this month, he called for a revolution in making the LAUSD more accountable to parents.

Gingrich, while offering no specific suggestions, indicated education would be a big issue during next year's campaigns for Congress.

``If we go into every district and say we will improve the quality of education your child receives and we are sincere in doing that, people will vote Republican,'' Gingrich said.

The speaker, on a two-day trip to California that included a stop in San Diego on Monday and an appearance on the ``Tonight Show,'' also defended himself from recent attacks.

``I'm supposed to be in trouble,'' Gingrich told the audience of nearly 900 people. ``We just passed a balanced budget. We have the greatest welfare reform in history. We have reformed how Medicare works. These were all part of the `Contract with America' that we promoted two years ago. And I'm supposed to be in trouble?''

For the future, Gingrich said he sees Republican concentrating on eliminating drugs, reducing taxes annually and reduce waste in government.

Gingrich also defended the ongoing investigations into fund raising by Democrats as he insisted it was not aimed at political involvement by Asian-Americans.

``We have a constitutional obligation to look into where the money came from in last year's election,'' Gingrich said. ``The issue is whether foreigners contributed in an attempt to influence American policy.

``This is not about Asian-Americans. They are concerned about foreign influence on our elections as is every other American.''

Gingrich said some of the allegations surrounding President Clinton's re-election campaign also involved Russian arms dealers and Cuban drug dealers.

``The question is did the Clinton-Gore ticket follow the laws that were in effect at the time,'' the speaker said. ``It has been difficult to get information. There has been stonewalling on providing information to the (Senate Government Affairs) committee . . . that borders on obstruction of Congress.''