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LWV League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Los Angeles County, CA March 3, 2015 Election
Smart Voter

John C. Burke
Answers Questions

Candidate for
Member of the Board of Trustees; Los Angeles Community College District; Office 7

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The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. What is the single most important issue facing LACCD today? How, as Trustee, would you deal with it?

The single most important issue facing the LACCD today is the quality of instruction. As a Trustee, I will provide leadership to improve discipline knowledge and teaching skills of LACCD faculty. As budget cuts are restored the LACCD must increase professional development activities for faculty. "Conferences on Instruction " in English,Math, Science and Humanities will achieve this goal. Each Conference on Instruction will be followed by a ser7)ies of "In the Trenches Seminars" held at UCLA, USC, CSUN and other four year institutionsI'm

2. How would you address the level of resources now devoted to remedial classwork at our community colleges?

Personnel and financial resources for remedial and special education should be increased. The "In the Trenches Seminars" proposed above will provide opportunities throughout the year for LACCD faculty to develop relationships with four year faculty and administrators. As class completion rates increase State funding will be focused on student success instead of on third week census enrollment.

3. How would you prioritize the various roles of the community college today?

The role of community colleges is outlined in the 1960 State Education Master Plan. The Plan can be improved by supporting efforts to integrate vocational education with transfer education as described in 2010 State Legislation. Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) certification should be a requirement of all certificate and associate degree programs. Finally, the community colleges should reach out to middle school and high school students to prepare them for post-secondary success. This will require leadership, experience and commitment on the part of each Board Member as they allocate tax payer resources to support the diversity of the various roles of the community colleges.

A review of my Resume will reveal that I have thirty nine(39) years of full time experience as an instructor and administrator. For four years, I managed the District Instructional Television Program. For seventeen (17) years I was Director of the Tech Prep Program. Each year I wrote the Grant applications, met the quarterly reporting requirements, wrote the final performance reports and implemented an array of programs that motivated high school students to graduate and continue their education at a community college. For 8 years I also served as the District Curriculum Coordinator. I created the Afternoon College and the School to Career Program. Twenty-six(26) School to Career Academies graduated more than 2,000 LAUSD middle school and high school students preventing them from dropping out of school.


Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' answers are presented as submitted.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: February 12, 2015 18:26
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