Job Program Aims to Curb Dropouts

At the start of the 1989 fall semester, more than 30,000 of the Los Angeles students who began high school three years ago had dropped out--and the number of students who are leaving school appears to be rising, educators said Tuesday.

Addressing the problem at a news conference Tuesday, Mayor Tom Bradley announced a part-time jobs program aimed at 1,000 students who are at risk of dropping out of school.

Three years ago, 125,000 students started high school in Los Angeles, about 28% of whom have dropped out.

Through the Los Angeles Youth Service Academy project, the city will arrange jobs in the Department of Recreation and Parks, said Jim Hadaway, the department’s general manager. Each student will work one-on-one with a mentor/supervisor, officials said.

The project, sponsored by the city and the Los Angeles Unified School District and scheduled to begin next February, is modeled after a state job training program. It will offer clerical and custodial jobs, computer programming positions, as well as work in carpentry, gardening and sports officiating. Some youths will serve as life guards at municipal pools, Hadaway said.

The Department of Water and Power has donated the first year’s operating budget of $5 million, most of which will go to underwrite student salaries, Bradley said.

A supervisor at each designated work site will interview and select the student they will work with, he said. The city will also train supervisors on how to mentor the students, Hadaway added.

Participants, ages 14 through 20, are required to be enrolled in a high school or a regional occupational center--schools where vocational training is part of the curriculum, said the district’s Associate Supt. Gabriel Cortina. Those who have stopped going to school can re-enroll and qualify for the program, Cortina said.

Counselors at the 49 high schools will recommend candidates, in grades nine through 12, he said.

“High-risk students considered for the (program) will be identified through disciplinary records, poor attendance or low grades,” Cortina said.

The students will earn $5.21 per hour, at part-time positions during the school year and full-time jobs between school sessions, Hadaway said.

Calling the job program “modest in its scope,” Bradley described it as one way to lessen the numbers who are leaving the school system and possibly face “confinement to a life of public dependency.”

Supt. Leonard Britton said Tuesday that the mayor has recognized “the city’s moral obligation to try to do the best it can for the community in regard to its children so they don’t get into drugs and gangs.”

In some parts of the city, the drop-out rate is as high as a 50%, Cortina said, but added that the lure of drugs and gang activity often has no part in some students’ decision to leave school.

“We are losing a lot of kids, but not all of them lack interest in studying. Many times it is out of economic necessity,” Cortina said. “Frequently, they have had to choose between working and going to school. We are offering a more realistic environment for students who have a desire to work and earn money while they are in school.”

Program officials said they hope employers will look past any fears they may harbor about filling posts with students who may be on their way out of the educational system.

“We think that there are mentors and office supervisors who will feel pretty good about helping a student who might have quit school and slipped through the cracks,” said Sheldon Erlich, a spokesman for the district.

“Because the program is open to all district students, initially there will be a big crunch” in applications for the 1,000 positions offered this year, Hadaway said.

The mayor said the city is already trying to secure additional funding for the program so more jobs can be offered.

“We expect that the private sector will be joining us,” Bradley said.