Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan addressed members and guests of the Rotary Club of Pacific Palisades last week, delivering a perspective on education in the state that combined a bottom-line reality with his demonstrable passion for ensuring the best resources for all students. Now serving as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Secretary of Education, Riordan brings to the job decades of experience through his foundation, which focuses on computer-based early childhood literacy programs. He also carries the respect of a former top city official, and entrepreneurial success. Taking an omnibus approach to the topic at hand, Riordan gave a brief overview of the future of the U.S. economy. ‘What will the middle class be like in the years to come,’ he asked. ‘Who would have thought 20, 30 years ago that now we’d have such efficiencies across the job market that have taken away so many quality middle class jobs? We use 25 percent of the work force in agriculture that we did years ago.’ Riordan predicted that the United States would become more and more a service economy. He tied the success of our economy to education, citing a variety of statistics that point to our country’s decline in providing scientific and technological experts, and to our failure to educate our children. ‘In the Western World, we are at the bottom for not having top-notch people in the world,’ he said. ‘And a majority of our students do not graduate from high school.’ He cited the 1983 ‘A Nation at Risk’ report that stated that ‘the educational foundations of our society are being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a nation and a people.’ He aimed his harshest attack at unions, which, he said ‘have taken over California and continue to advocate for more money for the schools”a solution to which Riordan objected. ‘Another check will not solve the problem. Putting money into diffusion, ambiguity and a dysfunctional system is a disaster. Teachers, principals and students need to be held responsible. In our current system incompetent people are tolerated.’ Turning to solutions, Riordan said that school principals must have power. ‘They must have power over the budget and to work with the school superintendent in determining how they will be meet the standards kids need. ‘If you empower educators, you will attract strong, entrepreneurial men and women to the profession. You will no longer have to move the lemons around.’ Riordan also advocated for smaller schools in smaller districts. ‘It’s vital that the principal be able to relate to every kid every day, and with smaller districts, the superintendent could relate to the principal every day. With 700 schools in the district, Gov. Romer certainly can’t do that.’ Much of Riordan’s philosophy is based on empirical evidence. He has been traveling the state and country to find examples of methods and systems that work. He was eager to learn about the charter schools in the Palisades, acting more the interlocutor than speaker with Palisades Charter School Executive Director Jack Sutton an Paul Revere Charter School Principal Art Copper. Sutton explained that Palisades Charter is not only a school but a district, entirely independent from the Los Angeles Unified School District. Copper explained that Revere, while a charter school in curriculum and hiring, is part of LAUSD. The Rotary Club presented Copper with a $5,000 check to support the school’s theater project, an after-school drama program that is the first step towards bringing a full drama department back to the middle school.
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