New Library Results From City-Schools Partnership

It was “show and tell” for fifth-grader Azusena Cardenas at Edison Elementary School on Wednesday.

For her teachers, too.

Azusena, student council president, gave her first speech as the school showed off its new library, the first tangible result of an unusual partnership between the city and local schools.

The library was upgraded as part of the so-called Edison Pacific Model Neighborhood Development Plan, run by community leaders and elected officials who have pooled resources to improve one of Glendale’s neediest neighborhoods.

Work on the school was the first phase of a $17.3-million neighborhood development plan.

Present were Principal Joanna Junge and a bevy of local and state officials, including state Supt. of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin, who praised the program as unique. Improvements in schools, parks and a community center are planned.

Eastin said the Glendale experiment, if successful, could be repeated across California.

“I really like people who are wild about education,” Eastin said. “Your willingness to lead the state . . . is commendable.”

Assemblyman Scott Wildman (D-Los Angeles) said he plans to introduce a bill next month asking the state to contribute $2 million toward the project.

Officials said the area has experienced crime and social problems. South Glendale has had an influx of new residents, largely Latinos and Armenians, in the last decade.

The neighborhood projects are part of the Greater Downtown Strategic Plan, a blueprint for the city’s development intended to enhance the economy and quality of living, approved by City Council last year.