L.A. Chamber Backs Student Jobs Program

The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce provided key support Thursday for a novel program that promises to deliver 1,500 jobs to graduating seniors at six inner-city high schools next year.

Called the Genesis project, the jobs program is a joint effort of the Los Angeles school district and two grass-roots community groups with bases in East Los Angeles and South-Central Los Angeles--the United Neighborhoods Organization and the South-Central Organizing Committee.

The two community organizations, which spearheaded the project, originally called for a program that would guarantee jobs upon graduation for any student who maintained a 2.5 grade point average and a 95% attendance rate.

The chamber’s executive board, however, stopped short of guaranteeing the jobs. Instead, it pledged to give “hiring priority” to students who meet the program’s requirements.

“This is a win-win situation for all of us,” chamber chairman Thomas P. Kemp said in a written statement after the vote. “The Genesis project will provide important incentives for students to complete high school . . . and pursue productive careers in business and industry.”

Leaders of the project, which is modeled after similar efforts in Boston and Baltimore, say it will be the first such program in California to involve the formal participation of a chamber of commerce.

Since 1973, the Los Angeles chamber has sponsored a summer jobs program for Los Angeles students that a spokeswoman said has provided about 150,000 part-time, minimum-wage positions. The Genesis program will concentrate on providing permanent, entry-level jobs.

School officials and UNO and SCOC leaders said they hope to have the final program plans ready within a month.

School board member Larry Gonzalez said the project will help reduce a serious dropout problem in the six target schools--Garfield, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Jefferson, Locke and Manual Arts.