For Those Who Whine: A Poopy Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 5, 2005

HAHN: VILLARAIGOSA A NO SHOW FOR OUR KIDS

Mayor Jim Hahn today exposed Antonio Villaraigosa's dismal record as a
Councilman and Assemblyman on education, including his failure to
appear at even a single meeting of the Council Education and
Neighborhoods Committee he sits on this year .

"Antonio Villaraigosa is going around town saying he will be the
education mayor. But he's been missing in action – literally," Mayor
Hahn said. "Antonio Villaraigosa hasn't bothered to show up to even
one education committee meeting this year. He's 0 for 2005 on our
schools. Antonio Villaraigosa has no credibility on education, or
anything else for that matter. Antonio Villaraigosa has delivered
absolutely nothing for the people of Los Angeles during his tenure on
the City Council."

Villaraigosa is a member of the City Council's Education and
Neighborhoods Committee and has missed every meeting of that committee
this year. Since taking a seat on the committee, Villaraigosa has
missed about half of the meetings, missing 13 and only showing up for
14.

"Antonio Villaraigosa goes around bragging how he got a school bond
passed to build schools. The fact is that the voters passed that
bond. What Antonio Villaraigosa did was lead a management meltdown
that kept 99 percent of that money away from Los Angeles until a
lawsuit. Because of that delay, parents had to line up outside their
neighborhoods schools starting last Friday to hopefully on Monday keep
their kids from being bused miles away from their homes because of
overcrowding," Mayor Hahn said. "Antonio Villaraigosa goes so far as
to say he fixed our schools when he was in the Assembly. The fact is
our schools are more under-funded than West Virginia's, and we are at
the bottom 10 percent in reading and math. Antonio Villaraigosa has
failed our kids, and he's failed to tell the truth about his record on
education."

"Just as I dismantled the status quo at the LAPD to turn the
department around, I'm going to shake up our schools to bring real
change to increase accountability and student performance," Mayor Hahn
said.

Mayor Hahn has called for:

* Mayoral authority to appoint at least three members to the Los
Angeles Unified School District Board.

* Mayoral authority to establish charter schools.

* The implementation of a privately-funded pilot program to attract
the highest performing teachers to the lowest performing schools.

Mayor Hahn sees safety as key to an effective education, and he
recently formed an unprecedented partnership among his office, the
school district, school police and LAPD to ensure student safety on
campus and on their way to and from school.

Mayor Hahn has been an active proponent of smaller schools, and was
the first mayoral candidate to endorse the tenets of the Small Schools
Alliance, which include support for small schools of 500 students or
less that stay open until 5 p.m. Mayor Hahn believes charter schools
are a good way to increase the number of small schools, and he
recently unveiled a program through which the city would promote a
dramatic increase in the number of Los Angeles charter schools.

Mayor Hahn has taken an aggressive role in improving Los Angeles schools:

* Mayor Hahn works closely with the school district on getting schools
built quickly and to form agreements through which the community and
schools can share playing fields, gymnasiums and auditoriums. Prior
to his administration, school construction was halted by red tape and
legal battles.

* Mayor Hahn has overseen the fastest-ever expansion of the program to
give more than 20,000 kids a safe place to learn during those crucial
after school hours when kids are most vulnerable.

* Mayor Hahn's Cash for College program has helped give more than
20,000 kids the tools they need to pay for college.