Culture: Dre. Dre, Iovine, Unlikely Force Behind New School

Rap icon Dr. Dre and music industry mogul Jimmy Iovine are together an unlikely force behind a new public high school project in Los Angeles. The two, both reportedly billionaires, said they would do and spend whatever is necessary to make the school, which will be in South L.A., successful and sought after — and a place that will motivate L.A. students to be critical thinkers, entrepreneurs and innovators. The move represents a rare investment by the entertainment elite in the nation’s second-largest school system, where more than 80% of students are Latino and Black and about the same number come from low-income families. Dr. Dre, born Andre Young, said he wants to reach “the inner-city kid, the younger me.” He added: “Here’s a place that you can go where there’s something that you can learn that you’re really interested in.” In an interview at his Brentwood Country Estates home, Dr. Dre also spoke about his health — he had a scare in January. But he was focused first on describing the kind of L.A. youth who could benefit from the school. “That guy that didn’t have an opportunity, that had to scratch and figure out things on his own,” he said. “That had the curiosity but didn’t have these type of opportunities, really smart kids — we want to touch and give them this open door and these opportunities to be able to show what they can do.” Regional High School No. 1, as it’s known for now, will be located at Audubon Middle School in Leimert Park, a longtime Black cultural hub, but in a larger community where many Black and Latino students have struggled with low achievement. -LA Times