According to the Daily News, LA Unified Superintendent David Brewer gave one of his rousing speeches at the Los Angeles Convention Center yesterday, as he welcomed administrators back to school. The event didn't get too much press coverage, unfortunately, and maybe that's why the former Navy admiral gets away with saying certain stuff.

Brewer said a number of things that need further looking into, but among the standout comments was the superintendent's talk about the widening achievement gap between African American and Latino students and white and Asian American students.

“Let me tell you what this is about,” Brewer said, according to the Daily News. “We have to hold ourselves accountable.”

He added, “This is the future of America. If we don't solve this, we will be a second-rate nation by 2020.”

An LA Unified press release about the event gives another quote about the same topic.

“We have got to figure out a way to get our boys to read and be literate,” said Brewer.

It was slightly bizarre stuff when you consider high performing charter schools such as Green Dot and the Inner City Education Foundation. These schools are based in African American communities, they're achieving high test schools, and they're sending students to college. The superintendent, in other words, does need to figure out anything–he's got the answers right in his own backyard.

Contact Patrick Range McDonald at pmcdonald@laweekly.com.

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