HAHN FOR MAYOR
18553 Ventura Blvd.
Tarzana, CA 91356

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CAMPAIGN OFFICE
FEBRUARY 01, 2001	818/705-6337

HAHN UNVEILS SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION PROPOSAL

Would Create a Joint Powers Authority to Focus on Building New Schools

Los Angeles City Attorney and mayoral candidate Jim Hahn today unveiled a plan to build new schools quickly and efficiently to ease overcrowding in Los Angeles public schools. Hahn’s plan would create a Joint Powers Authority between the city and the school district to focus solely on school construction. Hahn outlined his plan in front of Hoover Elementary School, which serves 2,600 students and still buses 500 neighborhood children to the Valley, West Los Angeles, East Los Angeles, and South Central.

"Overcrowding has become one of the most significant obstacles standing between our children and a quality education," said Hahn, who was joined at the press conference by Hoover Elementary School Principal Marie Leyva and parent volunteer Ernestine Mansour.

"Step one in my plan to improve public education is to create a Joint Powers Authority between the city and the school district that would solely focus on finding sites for and building new schools."

As mayor, Hahn would propose and negotiate establishment of the Joint Powers Authority. Under state law, any two or more governmental agencies can create a joint powers authority to combine their power and authority. Examples of other local joint powers authorities include the Pasadena Blue Line and the Alameda Corridor.

The greatest benefits of a Joint Powers Authority would be its singular purpose of finding sites for and building schools. With the Joint Powers Authority focused on school construction, the school district can spend less time worrying about classroom space and busing, and more time attending to its primary responsibility of providing the highest quality education for our children. The Joint Powers Authority would combine the authority held by the city, the district, and the school board to get the job of building new schools done more quickly and efficiently. The Joint Powers Authority would also bring together expertise in a range of areas currently lacking in the current school construction process, including school construction, engineering and land acquisition, environmental issues, housing, and governmental affairs.

Currently, over 14,000 students in Los Angeles are bused out of their neighborhoods. That number is expected to rise to 30,000 by 2003 and to 80,000 by 2008. Many schools are on multi-track, year-round schedules to accommodate a large number of local students. This means Los Angeles students are attending school for longer hours and fewer days, putting them at an academic disadvantage and making schools ineligible for state funding provided to schools for adding instructional days proposed in the state’s education plan.