OVERALL PLAN URGED TO RECLAIM STREETS SCHOOL ROLE KEY, LAUSD BOARD TOLD.Byline: NAUSH BOGHOSSIAN Staff Writer 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. board received a briefing Tuesday on a new report that calls for a Marshall Plan-like solution to end gang violence in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . The report from Connie Rice, a civil-rights attorney who chairs the district's bond oversight committee, has already been presented to a city gang committee and will go to the full City Council. Rice said school district involvement in a cohesive strategy -- akin to the comprehensive Marshall Plan Marshall Plan or European Recovery Program, project instituted at the Paris Economic Conference (July, 1947) to foster economic recovery in certain European countries after World War II. The Marshall Plan took form when U.S. in which moribund economies of post-World War II Europe were rebuilt -- is key to helping solve a problem that costs taxpayers and victims more than $2 billion a year. After anti-gang efforts failed to stop a sixfold sixfold Adjective 1. having six times as many or as much 2. composed of six parts Adverb by six times as many or as much Adj. 1. increase in gangs in 30 years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time answer lies in addressing conditions that spawn gang activity, Rice said. The goal, she said, is to make law enforcement the last rather than the only resort. ``Suppression and law enforcement are critical, but alone you can't do this. Your schools are central to any solution,'' she said. The LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) could keep its schools open after classes as community centers and safe havens for students, Rice said. She cited a study that revealed that post-traumatic stress disorder post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mental disorder that follows an occurrence of extreme psychological stress, such as that encountered in war or resulting from violence, childhood abuse, sexual abuse, or serious accident. levels among LAUSD students were as high as those of students in Baghdad after the U.S. invasion. School board member Mike Lansing said he looked forward to playing a major part in a plan, but suppressing gang activity requires more than just keeping doors open after school. ``We have to do more than keep them busy and satisfied. ... We must as a city develop teen centers and comprehensive teen programs,'' he said. Board member Julie Korenstein said job training will be crucial in giving students alternatives to gangs. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has said the LAUSD's involvement is critical. District Superintendent David Brewer said a major collaborative effort is needed among agencies. ``It's going to be a massive effort, and it's going to take a lot of detail -- down to the hour, down to the minute,'' he said. naush.boghossian(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3722 |
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