The Los Angeles Unified School Board on Tuesday approved an $18.4 billion budget for next school year that will avoid layoffs, maintain funds for faculty raises and provide additional support for arts programs, among other things. But declining enrollment and expiring pandemic-era federal funding pose an uncertain future for the district.
The 2024-2025 spending plan is roughly $400 million less than last year’s $18.8 billion budget. Budget size is partly determined by enrollment and the district has continually experienced a decrease in student enrollment since the pandemic, according to LAUSD data.
What suffered cuts?
No full-time employees are being laid off or losing benefits, although L.A. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said during Tuesday’s LAUSD board meeting that job titles and duties will change for some employees. Services for students will also be retained. Educator and staff raises account for $1.8 billion of the budget, with $95 million budgeted for reducing class sizes by one student.
The budget also includes $87.5 million that will be set aside for the next three years to offset any reduction in hours for school-based employees, according to an LAUSD press release.
How were layoffs averted?
The district managed to avoid layoffs thanks to a $500 million federal reimbursement it received this year for its COVID-testing program. LAUSD previously required all students and staff to undergo weekly COVID testing.
Faculty and staff employed by the district have also put pressure on LAUSD officials to protest budget cuts at individual schools. Last month, thousands of teachers and staffers rallied outside district headquarters in downtown L.A. to address understaffing issues and increased classroom sizes.
“We are at an inflection point and the decisions we make now will ripple across generations of Los Angeles students,” Carvalho said in a press release. “It is imperative that we are wise and scrupulous as we financially plan for the next several years.”
What about arts programming, policing and other programs?
The new budget calls for $216 million of arts funding, which includes $30 million added to the budget after parents, union leaders and a former superintendent accused the district of misspending Proposition 28 funds, which were allotted for additional arts instruction.
Funds for the LAUSD police department remain the same as last year, $69.2 million. Recently, parents who support policing on campus advocated for more police presence after noticing a surge of violence in schools throughout the district. In 2020, students and activists successfully persuaded the LAUSD board to remove school police from campuses and slash the policing budget by 35%.
The budget also allocates $125 million to the Black Student Achievement Program, a program that was established in the 2020-2021 school year to support LAUSD campuses with a large population of Black students.
What is the community saying?
Hollenbeck Middle School principal Mario Garcelita said he was glad to see the district’s commitment to maintaining funds for staff and faculty raises in the approved budget. The administrator said that retaining seasoned teachers through raises is just as important as reducing classroom sizes.
“Teachers should get paid well to keep them in education because a lot of people don’t want to go into education because of low pay,” Garcelita said. “They should get compensated accordingly.”
Brianna Flores, a rising junior at Garfield High School, was disappointed the police budget was untouched and felt that funds should’ve been reallocated to services she says benefit students directly.
“I think there shouldn’t be as much police [in schools],” Flores said. “You can put the money that you’re funding police with toward counselors or mental health resources or things like that.”
Nathan Cabrera was at the district’s board meeting on Tuesday representing Theodore Roosevelt High School. The rising junior asked the board for increased transparency in budget decisions and urged the district to involve students in more of the process moving forward.
“I want to attend a flourishing, well-kept school,” Cabrera said. “LAUSD is the model for the nation, so it’s time to invest more in high-needs schools.”
Recently, Roosevelt High students joined a march led by Felicitas and Gonzalo Méndez High School students over the unexplained removal of their principal, Mauro Bautista. Here they called on LAUSD to offer transparency over proposed budget cuts at their own school.
Board Member Dr. Rocío Rivas, who represents schools on the Eastside, also said more transparency in budget negotiations was necessary.
“Amidst a challenging economic landscape, this budget reflects a process that has been heard from so many voices,” said Rivas in an LAUSD press release. “There’s always room to do better with transparency and urgency.”
