Mayor wants to reform education system

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More than 1,200 educational leaders came together to discuss how to change staggering statistic in Los Angeles County. The county has a 40 percent drop out rate which has not changed for the last 10 years. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was at the 2011 Education Summit and said those rates are unacceptable.

The conference was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center and put on by the organization the United Way of Greater Los Angeles. One idea dominated the conference: the idea that technology needs to be more incorporated into our education system.

Retired CEO of Jeffries and Company and former ambassador to Uruguay, Frank Baxter, spoke about what he calls a "blended model." The model is already at a few schools, and Baxter is pushing it more.

Elise Buik, the president and CEO of United Way of Greater Los Angeles, said leaders need to focus more on middle schools. Her idea is to target kids when they’re young so they’re ready for high school.

Politicians, businessmen and educators at the event proposed an array of ideas, but they all agreed that it takes more than educators to make a change at the school-level.