Education Reform

USC is eliminating the study of German as a major over the next three years and dismantling the department except for some basic language courses, officials said. Faculty and students are protesting the move, saying it will harm the university's national reputation for scholarship. The German department at the Los Angeles campus is relatively small, with three full-time professors, three lecturers, 10 undergraduate majors and 10 minors, said its chairman, Gerhard Clausing.

A survey of 6,008 South Los Angeles high school students shows that many are frightened by violence in school, deeply dissatisfied with their choices of college preparatory classes, and -- perhaps most striking -- exhibit symptoms of clinical depression. "A lot of students are depressed because of the conditions in their school," said Anna Exiga, a junior at Jordan High School who was one of the organizers of the survey.

Like many school systems throughout the state, Los Angeles Unified School District officials spent Thursday reviewing financial projections that will include cutting programs and services because Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's revised budget does not provide enough funding. Even though the governor included an additional $1.8 billion in state education funding, L.A.

L.A. schools Supt. David L. Brewer said this week he would push to give school principals real authority over their staffs and budgets and hold them accountable for academic results -- if the school board and other leaders would stand behind him. "The captain of a ship is a god," said Brewer, a retired admiral, at a Thursday meeting to discuss how the Los Angeles Unified School District is organized. "I want the principals to be captains of their ships. . . . Then I found out about all the union issues," which, he added, revolve around the needs of adults rather than children.

Armando Sosa's elementary school is just a quick scramble up a steep dirt path and over a crosswalk from his home in Ramona Gardens, an Eastside housing project known for its crime and violence. If he's late, he can hear the school bell from his bedroom. His mother, Liliana Martinez, loves Murchison Elementary but worries that Armando's zeal for learning will wither in middle school.

Hundreds of California high schools met this year's federal academic targets released Thursday only because the state uses easier standards for high schools than for elementary and middle schools, a Times analysis has found. But even with this boost, just 48% of the state's high schools met the federal standard of "adequate yearly progress" in this year's results.

St. Louis is looking for its eighth school superintendent since 2003. Kansas City, Mo., is on its 25th superintendent in 39 years. Despite good salaries and plenty of perks, a recent study found that the average urban superintendent nationwide stays on the job only about three years -- which educators say isn't enough time to enact meaningful, long-lasting reform. "Would you buy Coca-Cola if they changed CEOs every year?" asked Diana Bourisaw, who left as St.

On its face, it's an ambitious plan: Expand one of Southern California's biggest charter groups from 13 to 35 schools in eight years until it becomes, in effect, the second-largest district in South Los Angeles. But that's just the beginning. Mike Piscal, the hard-charging founder of the Inner City Education Foundation, has a far more audacious goal than that. As he sees it, the expansion plan he is announcing today will lead to nothing less than the transformation of South L.A.

A yearlong effort by former Mayor Richard Riordan to lead reforms at storied Dorsey High School was met Tuesday with a clear answer: Thanks but no thanks. The longtime education philanthropist has sought a quasi-management role at a low-performing high school, much like current Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other civic leaders. "I'm offering my heart, my soul, my reputation, my pocketbook and everything to the students at Dorsey High School," said Riordan, who also served as Gov.

Attorneys for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the Los Angeles Unified School District were back in court Wednesday fighting over whether Villaraigosa should be allowed to proceed with plans to take partial control of the school district despite a legal ruling last month that gutted his effort. Lawyers for the district -- frustrated by what they view as an attempt by Villaraigosa to skirt the legal ruling -- urged Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Dzintra I. Janavs to reaffirm her Dec.