Civic Circus with Ankur Patel breaks down local politics, with a weekly report on city, county, and state bureaucracies.<\/em><\/p>\nThe LAUSD is the second largest school district in the United States with a K through 12 enrollment of 664,000 and a total enrollment of 919,000 students. The general fund for this fiscal year 2011\/12 totaled $6.5 billion. That is after cuts of over $2,000,000,000 over the last four years has left us with a shortened school year, thousands fewer teachers, and forces a serious examination of all alternatives to traditional public schools.<\/p>\n
I am a product of LAUSD Magnet Programs, which have actually been more successful, as a whole than Charter Schools in LA., but The $543 million budget deficit facing LAUSD for the 2012-13 year, largely created by the state\u2019s financial mismanagement, overestimation of revenue, and the politicization of education, has Superintendent John Deasy looking to the bottom of the barrel, a property tax, to make up some of that gap.<\/p>\n
During the LAUSD School Board meeting on Tuesday January 10th, Deasy laid out in stark terms what the district was facing, making the case for a property tax that would range between $200 and $300. It will be up to the 7 school board members to put that tax on the November ballot for voter approval. Jerry Brown also hopes to get his own half cent sales tax for education on the ballot.<\/p>\n
Not only will the district not know if that extra tax revenue will be coming before they create the budget, there is a high likelihood that even if the money comes through to the district, it will be in the form of deferral payments \u2013 essentially IOUs. <\/p>\n
The fact that the budget is continually being cut, teachers are worried about their jobs, and the general lack of resources that our children get in their public schooling has led many people to move their children out of public school. The LAUSD has had a decline in enrollment of over 100,000 students since 2007. With the decrease in enrollment, the state, which provides funding based on the number of students, has also decreased, further exacerbating the problem. <\/p>\n
So the numbers are looking bad, both in terms of dollars, but also in terms of graduation rates. <\/p>\n
One idea that has been floating and will be discussed during the LAUSD board meeting being held today, is the erasure of school boundaries. This challenges the concept of the neighborhood school, ideally allowing parents to choose the best option for their child while nurturing and expanding strategies that have proved successful at other schools. This would be a dramatic shift, and is not being taken lightly as the school board is voting today to approve the exploration of the idea in a formal report. Proponents are painting this as a way to empower parents and allow them more options for their children. Issues of fairness and priority of seats will have to be addressed as specific schools would be more appealing to parents. <\/p>\n
But without teachers, four walls, a blackboard, and some desks do not a school make. So the LAUSD has also been coming up with and implementing innovative solutions to the budget problems such as rehiring laid off teachers at a discount by not providing benefits such as sick time or healthcare.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t forget that lesser known elected officials, like our school board members, are still politicians.<\/p>\n
You can follow Ankur Patel and comment on LA circus politics at Twitter @hardlyconscious.
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Civic Circus with Ankur Patel breaks down local politics, with a weekly report on city, county, and state bureaucracies.<\/em><\/p>\n