Councilman Plans Tutoring Program for L.A. Schools

Seeking to aid faltering schoolchildren, a Los Angeles city leader has forged a novel alliance with local schools and colleges to have prospective teachers tutor thousands of students after school and on weekends.

The program is being organized by City Councilman Mike Feuer, who has enlisted the support of L.A. Unified Supt. Ruben Zacarias, Cal State University Chancellor Charles B. Reed and trustees of the Los Angeles Community College District.

Under the new partnership, students from Cal State campuses and community colleges could earn credit for tutoring children--primarily in kindergarten through third grade--at elementary schools and public libraries in Los Angeles.

The tutoring plan, known as READ L.A., arrives at a time when Los Angeles Unified has stepped up its own intervention programs to assist more than 100,000 low-performing students who are at risk of being retained at their grade levels at the end of next school year.

The city-sponsored initiative is scheduled to begin in a handful of schools in September. Feuer and L.A. Unified officials hope to expand it to all elementary schools in the district.

Feuer said he was compelled to act by the dismal performance of California students on reading tests and because his own children attend Los Angeles public schools.

He said the city, which has no authority over the school district, can play an instrumental role in addressing illiteracy.

“Certainly it’s clear to everyone that we have a huge reading problem,” said Feuer, who intends to run for city attorney. “There are huge lifetime impacts from the failure to learn to read at any early age.”

Many details need to be worked out before any tutoring occurs, including what materials and curricula will be used and which schools will receive the program first.

But significant pieces are emerging:

* Feuer has ponied up $25,000 from his council district account for a consultant to organize the program over the next six months. The school district also will appoint a staffer to oversee its involvement.

* The city’s 68 libraries, including the Central Library downtown, will provide space for tutoring.

* The school district will pay to keep schools open in the afternoons and on weekends by using state and federal funds for after-school programs.

* The tutoring plan will be integrated into the school district’s intervention programs aimed at students who scored below the 36th percentile on the Stanford 9 exam.

“I want this to be a massive call to action for the entire community to rally with our children,” Zacarias said.

Meanwhile, Cal State and community college officials are starting to hash out the particulars of their involvement.

Reed is encouraging Cal State campuses throughout the region to participate in the tutoring, including Cal State L.A., Northridge, Dominguez Hills, Long Beach and Fullerton.

The chancellor said the program would complement a new CSU teacher education program that seeks to provide classroom experience for prospective instructors as early as their freshman year.

“We all need to do everything we can to help children read and improve public education,” Reed said.

Administrators at Cal State Northridge plan to blend their teacher education program with the tutoring initiative next fall.

About 30 undergraduates could earn credit for the fieldwork, and would be supervised by graduate students who are earning master’s degrees in reading instruction, said Mary Kay Tetreault, interim dean of the Northridge campus’ College of Education.

“It’s an excellent pairing,” she said. “It would be real natural to have students work in the schools or libraries with the tutoring program.”

The community college district could tap its own reservoir of would-be teachers, including those now working in schools as aides and others in so-called learning service programs that combine academic instruction with community service.

Kelly Candaele, a college district trustee, said the tutoring could have an important long-term impact by preparing children for higher education.

“To the extent we can intervene in an early stage in the education process, we are not going to have to make up ground when students enroll in our community colleges,” Candaele said.

Candaele said he will introduce a motion at the trustees’ April 14 meeting seeking funding to coordinate the program at the nine community colleges or to provide financial assistance for the tutors.

Feuer intends to officially unveil the program later this month.

A spokeswoman for Mayor Richard Riordan said he is “very supportive” of the idea but is waiting to see details before making any commitments.