L.A. boasts its own great debaters

The debate team at the Santee Educational Complex needed an elected official to show up at its competition Tuesday in order to qualify for a United Nations student summit.

Not surprisingly, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa attended. Santee parents and teachers voted this year to join Villaraigosa’s Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, his plan to reform six struggling campuses.

The high school’s debate team argued the merits of national versus global water ownership in front of the student body, teachers and administrators, plus the mayor and Councilwoman Jan Perry. The audience then cast ballots to decide the winner.

To qualify for the July summit, the team must also perform other tasks including writing essays and press releases and making videos. It also had to persuade an elected official to attend one of its events.

The mayor cast the debate as the first of many events that will raise the institution’s profile.

“This is the kind of talent and creativity we want to support,” Villaraigosa told the crowded auditorium. “I’m really looking forward to this partnership.”

The mayor’s reform initiative will begin in July. Villaraigosa has already hired his senior management team and received a $100,000 donation for technology.

Santee’s debate team began last month, meeting three times a week for two hours after classes. It has about 10 members, although only four took part in Tuesday’s debate.

Juniors John Reed-Torres and Daniel Alvarez, dressed in dark suits and conservative red ties, argued that nations are better at managing their own resources and that water brings income to governments.

Without water fees and taxes that help pay for national defense, the “U.S. is vulnerable to terrorist attacks,” said Alvarez.

Freshmen Jackie Lara and Hugo Rios said that a global commission is needed to equitably deliver water around the globe; otherwise, countries would be unwilling to share their resources and people would suffer.

“Before we know it, it may be too late” to save people from dying, Rios said.

After each side made its argument, students in the audience filled out sheets of paper to vote for the winning team and handed them to teachers while the debate team argued about which side had done better.

“You know we’re right!” said Reed-Torres.

Team coach Nick Richert, who also teaches English, said the victor would be decided after tallying the votes Tuesday night. “But they’re a team, so it doesn’t really matter,” he said.

About 10 teams from the United States will participate in the all-expenses-paid summit at the United Nations. Alvarez said he hopes the team makes the cut in May.

“It would be great to go,” he said. “I’ve never ridden an airplane before.”

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jason.song@latimes.com