February 4, 2012
WEST LOS ANGELES - Just one block South of a very urban section of Wilshire Blvd with 40 story high-rise buildings and often grid locked streets sits the Kuruvungna Springs. The Springs are on a part of the University High School campus. The Springs and the surrounding area were once the site of a Tongva village.
This last Saturday the Green Party and the Foundation hosted a tour that also included a Tongva blessing of the land. Fresh potable water is bubbling out of the ground and into small streams and pools. The water is said to have healthy restorative powers.
In 1992 a group of local environmentalists working together with Tongva descendants formed the Gabrienlino/Tongva Springs Foundation. The foundation was able to secure a lease for the land from the Los Angeles Unified School District for one dollar a year. The Foundation found funding, both private and public and has restored much of the site. The work goes on and there is still much to be done to preserve and protect the springs.
The foundation's current lease expires next year and they are hoping to secure a new long-term fifty-year lease from the school district. Supporters are urged to contact the school district and encourage them to extend the lease and ensure the continued protection and ongoing restoration of this sacred site.
From the newswire:Protecting Sacred Sites: The Kuruvungna Springs by A | | Video: Tongva Springs by imalastsalami
LOS ANGELES - Using the budget shortfall in Sacramento as cover, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board President Monica Garcia and LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy have recommended a draconian budget that cuts off all funding for adult education--the veritable lifelines for immigrant families, impoverished communities, and students of color. Unconscionable in any circumstances, their proposed budget is even more grievous given the hundreds of millions of dollars of public property and resources they have given away to private charter corporations over the past couple of years.
More than 345,000 students are currently enrolled in various adult education programs including English as a second language, high school graduation, occupational programs, and many others.
Efforts are underway to save these critical programs. So far thousands of signatures have been collected, hundreds of phone calls made, and various other means of trying to convince the LAUSD Board to save Adult Education have been employed. Moreover, it isn't just the students at these schools and community activists supporting adult education. Indeed, many local business support LAUSD Adult Education for reasons including providing workers from the community better prepared for positions.
Supporters are asking for signatures on the on-line petition, as well as for support at a demonstration this Thursday, February 9, at 1:30 at the LAUSD offices, 333 S Beaudry Ave in Los Angeles, 90017.
From the newswire: Even Local Businesses Support Efforts to Save LAUSD Adult Education by Robert D. Skeels