RIORDAN PREPARING LESSON PLAN EDUCATION TO DOMINATE THE MAYOR'S AGENDA.Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer Mayor Richard Riordan Richard J. Riordan (born May 1, 1930) is a Republican politician from California, U.S. who served as the California Secretary of Education from 2003–2005 and as Mayor of Los Angeles from 1993–2001. Riordan ran for Governor of California unsuccessfully in 2002. announced plans on Tuesday to step up his emphasis on education issues in February, with two major policy speeches and a bus tour of schools. In the past few months, Riordan has launched new initiatives in the areas of inner-city empowerment em·pow·er tr.v. em·pow·ered, em·pow·er·ing, em·pow·ers 1. To invest with power, especially legal power or official authority. See Synonyms at authorize. 2. , police reform and energy, and is now planning to highlight education. The initiatives and speeches are both ways to feature his accomplishments over the past eight years and attempts to continue working on issues until the very end of his term. ``What I decided is that this will be the busiest six months of my life - and it has been by far,'' Riordan said during an interview at his City Hall office. ``It's not just schools, but it's quality of neighborhoods, safety issues, transportation - but education being the main one.'' Throughout his term, the mayor has played an active role in school issues - despite having no legal authority over 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. - by successfully backing school board candidates and working behind the scenes to influence personnel and policy decisions. After his term ends in June, Riordan plans to take a full-time position with the LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) involving computers in the classroom, although details of that position have not been worked out yet. In the meantime Adv. 1. in the meantime - during the intervening time; "meanwhile I will not think about the problem"; "meantime he was attentive to his other interests"; "in the meantime the police were notified" meantime, meanwhile , he has planned three events during the week of Feb. 12 to highlight his educational policies. On Feb. 12, he'll take a bus tour of schools. He will touch on several themes, including asking corporations to get more involved in the schools. The tour, he said, is a way of reaching out to parents and the community. ``The bus tour is just to connect City Hall to the neighborhoods and say I'm on their side, get them to know that they can make change, they can put pressure on me and others. It's not hopeless hopeless Terminal care Futile. See Medical futility. ,'' Riordan said. On Feb. 13, he'll ride the school bus with students to Lenicia B. Weemes School, located near the University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission , and give an educational policy address outlining progress the district has made in areas including accountability, curriculum and school construction. He will also address the failings and problems the district faces. On Feb. 15, he will address a national audience at Brown University in Providence Providence, city (1990 pop. 160,728), state capital and seat of Providence co., NE R.I., a port at the head of Providence Bay; founded by Roger Williams 1636, inc. as a city 1832. , R.I., where he will be keynote speaker at a symposium titled ``The Future of Urban Schools in the 21st Century.'' |
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