Clinton Tardy for Computer Class on First Day of School

As students across Los Angeles returned to school Tuesday, Bill Clinton failed to show up for his scheduled class at Reseda High School.

The president was due to address a computer class--and more than 80 other classrooms nationwide--about the need to modernize schools and plug into the Internet.

But the plan to meet Reseda High over the Information Superhighway met an old-fashioned snag: timing.

Clinton’s tiny image arrived on two computer screens in the classroom 10 minutes after the bell rang.

Students were off to their next class. Even one of the dignitaries present for the occasion--school board member Julie Korenstein--was heading for her car.

“I’m outta here,” Korenstein said as she left.

When he finally appeared, Clinton talked about the need to refurbish aging schools and build new campuses to accommodate record enrollment nationwide of 52.7 million students this year. He said about 14 million students attend schools that need extensive repair or replacement of one or more buildings.

The president called for building or renovating more than 5,000 schools, hiring 100,000 teachers to reduce class size in the earliest grades and linking every classroom to the Internet.

Like Reseda, campuses throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District are beset by the very woes Clinton outlined in his speech.

From Chatsworth to Carson, work crews sought to repair and restore aging facilities. They painted buildings, resurfaced cracked blacktop, installed air conditioning and dug trenches for electrical wiring--all paid for by a $2.4-billion bond measure.

Reseda High was no exception. Students walked by fenced trenches for electrical conduits that will power air conditioning in classrooms at the 43-year-old campus.

In the classroom where students missed President Clinton, the 25 computers are at least 6 years old--prehistoric by current technology standards. The machines run on 16 megahertz of power, compared to the minimum 200 megahertz for current models. Only four computers are linked to the Internet.

Administrators said the computers are fine for learning basic skills such as word processing and spread sheets. But the equipment caught the attention of the class visitors, including Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks).

“These machines are vintage 1992,” Sherman told the students. “You should be working with more advanced equipment.”

The event seemed lost on many of the 32 students, who sat in rows of desks on one side of the room as the adults huddled around computers on the opposite side, waiting for the postage stamp-sized picture of Clinton to appear as part of National School Modernization Day.

One boy yawned as an official from the U.S. Department of Education in the room spoke about the students being the “best hope for the future of our country.” A girl dabbed mascara on her lashes.

Computer teacher Bruce Gurnick said he didn’t expect the students to focus on the first day of school, particularly when they had not been prepped for the event or given an introduction to the material.

“If this doesn’t interest you, keep the noise level to a whisper,” Gurnick told his students.

Some students were confused by the day’s event.

“I thought they were selling food,” said senior Alex Lomeli, 17. “There’s all these people with suits on.”

Sherman did his best stand-in act as students and adults waited for Clinton. He told a joke about representing the best-named community in the country--Sherman Oaks. None of the students laughed until someone among them whispered the connection. “Ah,” they said.

He told the students about efforts by Congress to modernize schools and about the constituent services available to them through his office.

Gurnick and Reseda Principal Robert Kladifko talked about their school being at the top of the list of LAUSD campuses to receive wiring for the Internet, cable television and other high-tech additions.

Still no Clinton.

But the day was not lost.

As the students filed out of the classroom, Sherman handed each of them one of the trademark combs featuring his name and phone number that he passes out to voters.

“These are cool,” said sophomore Travis Fausey. “Unbreakable.”