Law and Government Magnet School Slated to Open in L.A. : Education: It would be the first of its kind in the state. The expansion of the program depends on whether the district may use federal grant money.

California’s first magnet school specializing in law and government is expected to open next fall at Monroe High School in Sepulveda, Los Angeles school officials said Monday.

The new magnet program would offer students the chance to study firsthand the workings of criminal and civil courts, police operations and a host of related fields, including court reporting, forensics and even politics, the officials said.

The Los Angeles Unified School District also hopes to expand its Downtown Business High School magnet to include its first fashion design program and to create its first public administration magnet at Wilson High School. In addition, district officials are hoping to open a math and science magnet at Westchester High School and a foreign language and international studies magnet at Gardena High School.

Officials said final approval depends on whether the U.S. Department of Education will allow the district to use federal grant money for the projects. The financially strapped district hopes to use a portion of a $3.4-million grant it received two years ago, district officials said.

The new magnets would join more than 90 specialized learning centers that serve about 30,000 of the system’s 625,000 students. Currently, the magnets specialize in the sciences, performing arts, business and humanities, and are among the system’s most popular programs.

Courses in the fashion program would include design and marketing, with help expected from downtown garment industry professionals. The proposed public administration magnet would teach students how city and county government agencies operate.

As part of the law and government program, Monroe Principal Joan Elam said she would like to convert one of the classrooms at the San Fernando Valley school into a simulated courtroom, where students could stage mock trials and hold debates.

“Beginning in the 10th grade we are hoping to have regular trips to local courthouses, probation departments and police stations,” Elam said. “Eleventh-graders will study state law and government, while seniors will concentrate on national and international law and government.”

Despite the chance that money troubles could delay the opening of the projects, Elam next week will visit law and government high schools operating in New York. Elam’s trip is being subsidized in part by the Los Angeles Educational Partnership, a nonprofit organization sponsoring academic programs to improve city schools.

“We support the law and government magnet,” said Judy Johnson, the group’s program director.

School board member Julie Korenstein, who represents the area where Monroe is located, has also pushed for the magnet. “We hope students become intrigued and interested enough to pursue a law-related profession,” she said.

Even if students do not enter one of those fields, establishment of the school is important, said Marshall Croddy, program director for the Los Angeles-based Constitutional Rights Foundation. The foundation, a nonprofit educational group, has pushed for establishment of such a magnet in Los Angeles.

“There are underlying values that infuse our entire governmental system,” said Croddy. “We want students to have a much better understanding of those values and see how they are applied and to have a basic understanding of democratic principals and the value of the Constitution.”

Croddy said the Monroe magnet could attract students to law-related fields and help train good citizens and “adults who will be prepared to deal with a legal system that dominates our lives.”