LAUSD School System update...

LAUSD school system faces tremendous pressures...much like our stressed natural resources. Our youth are our human resources for the coming generation in power.


Los Angeles Unified's new superintendent, Adm. David Brewer III , and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa vow to put politics aside and unite in building world-class schools for the district's 708,000 students.

The mayor said he and Brewer will meet once a week to discuss issues including the dropout rate, which is estimated at between 24 percent and 50 percent.

Villaraigosa said he would work with Brewer to select three clusters of schools that the mayor will directly oversee.

And Brewer said he embraced the partnership and called for the community to be involved in improving schools.

Reform of urban education faces much the same challenge as reform of our living in harmony with our natural capacities. Reform will require conservation, home and community respect, investment in new techniques and technologies, and a vision of where we want to go, as well as a thorough understanding of the natural systems in place and their capacity to contribute to the whole.

That natural system is the heart of the youth themselves! And heart is like a watershed -- everything that flows into it accumulates and provides either a nutrient rich system or polluted runoff.

What can environmentally-aware people contribute to this reformation process to create a more sustainable society?

- The first question to ask is: How do we give 708,000 youth access to nature in a meaningful way?