League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Los Angeles County, CA March 5, 2013 Election
	John C. (Burke) Burke Answers Questions Candidate for Member of the Board of Trustees; Los Angeles Community College District; Office 2

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 would provide leadership to improve discipline knowledge and teaching skills of LACCD faculty.

As budget cuts are restored the LACCD must provide professional development activities that allow faculty to improve discipline knowledge and teaching skills. This can be accomplished by planning a series of district-wide "Conferences on Instruction" in English, Math, Science and the Humanities. Each Conference on Instruction would be followed by a series of "In the Trenches Seminars" held at four year institutions including UCLA, USC, Caltech and CSUN.

These seminars would provide opportunities throughout the year for LACCD faculty to develop relationships with four year faculty and administrators. The goal would be to improve teaching at the nine District colleges in order to increase the number of students prepared for success at four year institutions. As class completion rates increase State funding will be focused on student success.

2. What do you think should be the balance in LACCD between preparing students for transfer to four-year institutions and programs that provide workforce training?

The goal of work force training is to prepare students for short term employment and long term education. Once students are employed they will be enrolled in general education courses that will prepare them for transfer to four year institutions. In accordance with 2010 State Legislation the 112 California community colleges must develop associate vocational education programs that include general education certification. Students who complete vocational education programs that include GE certification will be prepared to transfer to four year institutions if that is their choice. The responsibility of community colleges is to give them that choice.

3. What experience in general management, fiscal management and budgetary oversight would you bring to the job of Trustee?

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 application, met the quarterly reporting requirements, wrote the final performance report and implemented an array of programs that motivated high school students to graduate and continue their education at a community college. 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.

The total funding for these programs exceeded 3.5 million dollars.

4. AB 2572 (Furutani) seeks to give the LACCD Board of Trustees authority to make changes in the way Trustees are elected (e.g. by district instead of 'at large') and make it possible to eliminate one round of the two-round LACCD election. Where do you stand on this legislation and the issues involved?

I support AB2572 which provides the LACCD Board with an alternative method for certifying new Board Members based on the highest vote in the Primary election. It eliminates the cost of the General election to the LACCD and the Candidates. Further consideration should be given to the method used to elect members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors where members are elected by 'District' rather than 'At Large'.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League. 

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

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: January 27, 2013 22:09
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