Bradley Promises to Replicate Echo Park After-School Program

Presidential hopeful Bill Bradley toured an after-school program in Echo Park on Thursday, promising to fund similar efforts nationwide that help children “dream a little more.”

Bradley watched children at Logan Street Elementary School playing music, working on computers and writing essays as part of the L.A.’s BEST (Better Educated Students for Tomorrow) program, a highly touted after-school program that serves about 5,800 students at 28 elementary schools. Kneeling, the stoop-shouldered candidate chatted with the students, shaking their hands and even scribbling a few autographs.

After the tour, Bradley told a crowd of about 150 supporters and parents that if he’s elected he will seek spending of $1 billion a year on at least 2,000 after-school centers around the country. His Democratic rival, Vice President Al Gore, has proposed spending a similar amount on after-school programs.

“The idea is to recognize that a safe place with caring adults, which is what this program is all about, is absolutely critical . . . if we are going to instill values in our children that they need to deal with the complex problems on the horizon,” he said.

Bradley was accompanied by state Sen. Martha Escutia (D-Whittier), who announced her endorsement of him, saying she admires his “courage to think big.”

“When I started reading about this man, he gave me hope,” she said. “For a jaded girl from East L.A., that’s a hard thing to do.”

Bradley told the crowd that, if elected, he wants to be remembered for governing during a time “that takes more people to a higher ground.”

About 14 million children still live in poverty, he said, and 44 million Americans are without health insurance. “I say that, in a time of unprecedented economic prosperity, now is the time, when the sun is shining, to fix our roof . . . to move our collective humanity a few feet forward,” he said.