Latest news with #L.A.Unified
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Los Angeles School Board Moms Push for Paid Parental Leave
Three moms on the L.A. Unified School Board have assembled a resolution to improve benefits for pregnant teachers and other district employees who don't qualify for California's state-paid family leave. The board passed the resolution unanimously last month — and now the district is putting together a preliminary plan, with a deadline of February, 2026 to produce a package of new parental benefits. Board Member Tanya Ortiz-Franklin, who represents LAUSD's District Seven, which includes neighborhoods such as South L.A., Watts and San Pedro, is the sponsor and a co-author of the resolution. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter She said it's about time the nation's second-largest district treats its workforce of more than 70,000 employees, including thousands of working moms like her, more fairly. 'Parents are spending the vast majority of their paycheck on rent and childcare, and a little bit left over for food and gas and other bills,' said Ortiz-Franklin, a former LAUSD teacher who has two young children. 'It's really affecting people's livelihood.' The resolution, which was co-sponsored by board members Karla Griego and Kelly Gonez, includes provisions for the district to support family planning, pregnancy, parental leave and childcare. The district is beginning with a demographic study to determine which employees have families, or are planning to, and identify areas of need. The study will also assess the costs of expanding leave for new parents. The district has contracts with unions that govern pay and benefits for its employees and is currently negotiating a new contract with the city's teachers union, which is also pushing for better benefits for parents. Ortiz-Franklin said new parents who work for L.A. Unified currently face an impossible choice: pay for childcare for their family or pay other household expenses. The cost of high-quality childcare in L.A., she said, exceeds the income of many LAUSD employees. She said teachers and other LAUSD workers are ineligible for the state's disability insurance program, which offers partially paid leave of up to 16 weeks for new parents. Teachers and other LAUSD employees are exempt from the state's family leave programs because the district's benefits programs predated those of the state. Often, Ortiz-Franklin said, district employees have to use their limited sick days to take parental leave, leading many teachers and other school staffers to time their pregnancies so they give birth during the summer months, when they are off anyway. In addition to calling for leave for pregnant employees, the resolution also calls on LAUSD to: Provide more access to reproductive healthcare, including fertility treatments. Create dedicated spaces for lactation at all district schools and offices. Help employees enroll their children in LAUSD schools near where they work. LAUSD officials are now working on a plan to provide these new benefits, Ortiz Franklin said, with some of the new services coming online in the current school year. Maya Suzuki Daniels, a teacher at San Pedro High School and a mother to a kindergartner and an infant, said the district needs to do more to support working parents like her. Suzuki Daniels said she's spent up to $1,600 a month for childcare, putting financial stress on her family while she's trying to work full time and raise young children. 'I exhausted all of my sick time, and I now am paying for their child care through personal loans,' Daniels said, 'which I'm told is very typical and normal for a working teacher. That sucks.'
Los Angeles Times
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
California joins 19 Democratic states in suit to stop massive Education Department layoffs
California on Thursday joined other Democratic-led states in suing the Trump administration, seeking to halt massive layoffs at the Department of Education, alleging the cuts amount to an illegal shutdown of its crucial work to administer student loans, protect civil rights and aid poor districts and students with disabilities. In the suit, filed in federal district court in Massachusetts, California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta joined attorneys representing 19 Democratic states and the District of Columbia. The complaint alleges staff reductions that Education Secretary Linda McMahon announced this week are a 'reckless' attempt to carry out President Trump's desire to close the department by making it unable to carry out work mandated by Congress. The Trump administration began dismantling the department this week, laying off about half of the agency's employees and carrying out what McMahon has said is key to the department's 'final mission' to no longer exist. 'It is a bedrock constitutional principle that the president and his agencies cannot make law. Rather, they can only—and indeed, they must — implement the laws enacted by Congress, including those statutes that create federal agencies and dictate their duties,' the suit said. 'Theexecutive thus can neither outright abolish an agency nor incapacitate it by cutting away the personnel required to implement the agency's statutorily-mandated duties.' The Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the suit. The suit asks a judge to order a stop to the layoffs, which are to take effect March 21. The staff reduction would leave 2,183 workers at the department, down from 4,133 in January. Bonta filed the lawsuit with attorneys from Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin, Vermont and the District of Columbia. California receives billions in federal funding from the Education Department for K-12 and higher education students and programs. The department has been unclear on how it will carry out its funding obligations, but said this week that it will continue to do work it is mandated to do by Congress. California receives an estimated $16.3 billion annually in federal funding for K-12 school students, or about $2,750 per student. The Los Angeles Unified School District — the nation's second-largest school system — puts its annual federal support at $1.26 billion. Not all of these dollars funnel through the Department of Education. Significant federal funding for early childhood education comes from the Department of Health and Human Services, and the gigantic student meal program is funded by the Department of Agriculture. L.A. Unified alone estimates that it receives $363 million to feed students from low-income families. About 80% of L.A. Unified students qualify for Title I-funded services aimed at giving academic support to students from low-income and poor families. The help includes tutoring, smaller classes, after-school programs, teacher training, counseling and family engagement. Another major funding area aids students with disabilities. In higher education, the Education Department also handles student loans for 43 million borrowers who owe the government more than $1.5 trillion. About half of Cal State University students, for example, receive student loans, a portfolio of more than $1 billion. The Pell Grant program, which awards more than $120 billion to 13 million students each year to help pay for higher education, is also managed by the department. About $1.5 billion per year is set aside in Pell Grants for California students. Questions have also risen about civil rights enforcement. As part of the layoffs, in San Francisco, the regional branch of the department Office for Civil Rights — already backlogged with investigations into school-related discrimination — is closing. Six other regional civil rights offices are also slated for closure. Monday's suit is one of several that Bonta and blue state attorneys general have filed against the Trump administration. On March 6, California joined seven other states suing the Trump administration over cancellation of $250 million grants to them — $600 million nationwide — for teacher training programs funded through the Education Department. The administration said the programs promote inappropriate and 'divisive ideologies' linked to diversity, equity and inclusion, known as DEI. A federal judge on Monday ordered the programs reinstated while he reviewed the case.
Yahoo
11-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
LAUSD misused millions in taxpayer-approved money meant for arts education, suit alleges
Los Angeles Unified officials repeatedly violated Proposition 28 — a state law requiring the hiring of arts teachers — misusing millions in state funds and denying promised arts instruction to students across the school system, according to allegations in a lawsuit filed Monday. The L.A. Superior Court suit was brought by former L.A. schools Supt. Austin Beutner, who is a plaintiff, along with eight students, represented by their guardians. Three school district labor unions on Monday announced their endorsement of the litigation. Monday evening, an L.A. Unified spokesperson said the district had not been served with the suit. "That said, we have sought to clarify any misunderstandings regarding Prop. 28 and we continue to follow implementation guidance as provided by the state of California to ensure that we are fully complying with the requirements of Prop. 28," the district said in a statement. In earlier public comments, district officials have said they have properly used Proposition 28 money plus other funding sources to increase overall arts-related spending by more than the amount required by the voter-approved measure. The lawsuit alleges that L.A. Unified provided a false certification to the state that Proposition 28 arts funding has been used properly, and that " LAUSD has defrauded the State of California and its taxpayers." Proposition 28 was approved by a nearly two-thirds majority of voters in November 2022. It requires that a portion of California's general fund, equal to 1% of the minimum state funding levels for K-12 schools and community colleges, be added to education funding to expand visual and performing arts instruction. This translated to $938 million statewide last year and about $77 million for L.A. Unified. From the get-go, Beutner, who wrote and financed the proposition, was concerned that some school systems would use the new arts money to pay for existing arts programs — leaving students no better off than before. For that reason, the law forbids maintaining the old funding levels with the new money. Moreover, Proposition 28 states that the arts funding, which is generated by student enrollment, must go to the school in which those students are enrolled. Also, school leadership, such as the principal or a school committee, control the use of the dollars. 'LAUSD has done exactly what the law prohibits,' the lawsuit alleges. 'It has eliminated existing funding sources for existing art teachers, and replaced those funds with Proposition 28 funds, thereby violating the requirement that the funds supplement rather than supplant existing sources.' The lawsuit lists 37 elementary schools with the same or reduced money for arts instruction from 2022-23 to 2023-24 and alleges that most L.A. Unified schools faced a similar funding situation. Read more: Voters approved more arts money for schools. Powerful unions allege funds are being misused 'Presented with a historic opportunity" for a "meaningful expansion" of arts education, "LAUSD has squandered the opportunity and violated the law. As a consequence, hundreds of thousands of students have been harmed," according to the lawsuit. In June, district officials quietly added $30 million to the elementary school arts budget for the 2024-25 school year amid ongoing accusations from Beutner, union leaders and parents scattered across L.A. Unified that the district was violating the law. They had become concerned when, despite the flow of new dollars, nothing appeared to have changed at their elementary schools during the 2023-24 school year, the first year that Prop. 28 funds became available. Supt. Alberto Carvalho and Deputy Supt. Pedro Salcido said during a June school board meeting that adding $30 million to elementary arts funding for the current school year was not an admission of wrongdoing. 'We decided, considering the degree of confusion and because ultimately we believe in the benefit of arts education ... to create this additional fund," Carvalho said during the meeting. "Notwithstanding the letter of the law, we decided to lean on the intent, not just the letter, but the intent. How are people perceiving that? And we're paying a price for that. So ... $30 million is above and beyond full compliance with the letter of the law, leaning more towards what we believe is the understanding of individuals in schools.' Salcido added: 'We want to make sure that as we move forward this is not a place of contention, controversy or questioning.' Read more: LAUSD quietly adds $30 million to arts budget amid allegations it violated the law In interviews, on social media and in public meetings, critics continued to fault the district — for not restoring redirected funds from the prior school year. They also contend the added arts instruction for the current school year remains well short of what was required by Prop. 28, an allegation also made in the lawsuit. The district has refused for more than a year to publicly release relevant budget documents to parents and to The Times that would clarify how the money intended for arts instruction was handled. Board member Scott Schmerelson — who has since become board president — aired some of the concerns at public meetings. Carvalho partly addressed them in an Aug. 15 internal memo. In that memo, which was cited in the lawsuit, L.A. Unified officials acknowledged to the Board of Education that they had used new arts money, for example, to replace existing funding for 167 out of 227 elementary arts instructors during the 2023-24 school year. Meanwhile, money that had been used for arts was redirected for other purposes, which were not described in the memo. "Given historic staffing challenges in filling Arts educator roles ... the District prioritized the use of Prop. 28 funds to cover existing staff as well as hire new staff," the memo stated. District officials said in the memo that their actions were legal because overall district spending on the arts increased in an amount surpassing what was provided by Prop. 28. In response to questions from The Times, the state education department agreed with L.A. Unified on this point — that to determine compliance with Prop. 28 rules, district arts spending is measured at the district level and not the school level. L.A. Unified supported their claim of overall increased arts expenditures, in large part citing higher spending for field trips funded through a different source. With this different funding source added in, the district states in the memo that arts staffing increased from 273 to 520 full-time equivalent positions from 2022-23 to 2023-24 and that arts-related spending increased from $74.7 million to $206.2 million over that same period. These figures are challenging to assess because of internal inconsistencies and incomplete information. As one example, the August memo said there were five high school arts teachers in 2022-23. The following year, the number grew to 126 thanks to Prop. 28 and other funding, the memo said. The school system has 86 senior high schools. However, in written responses to questions from The Times, the district said there were 918 high school arts teachers in 2022-23, not five. To further justify the Prop. 28 funding shifts, a district spokesperson, in written responses to queries from The Times, stated that L.A. Unified relied on an auditing guide from the California Department of Education, which allowed for districtwide tabulation of arts spending. The lawsuit contends that the auditing instructions do not outweigh all other factors. "This does not give defendants the right to violate every other portion of the statute's plain-language requirements," the suit alleges. State education officials, including state Supt. of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, have avoided taking sides in the dispute and advised districts to consult their own attorneys as needed. Even so, "it is unlikely that the use of arts funding for field trips unrelated to the arts would be an appropriate use of funds," said department spokesperson Elizabeth Sanders. Sanders added: 'We don't know one way or another if LAUSD is operating within the audit guidelines when it comes to their use of Prop. 28 funds." The field trips have been organized under a program called Cultural Arts Passport, or CAP. Field trips were apparently tabulated as arts spending, including trips to amusement parks, professional sporting events, game shows, the zoo, recreation areas and activities such as indoor sky diving, according to the lawsuit and internal L.A. Unified records. These CAP field trips are paid for from a different state-funding source, the state-funded Expanded Learning Opportunities Program, the school district has confirmed to The Times. "Defendant Carvalho has repeatedly used CAP to attempt a cover-up: by incorrectly including funding for CAP in its calculations of how much funding was spent on arts education," the lawsuit alleges. At a June meeting, Chief Academic Officer Frances Baez defended the classification of all field trips as arts instruction, saying, in part, that "Arts lives everywhere.' Proposition 28 states that 80% of funding must pay for the salaries and benefits of either new arts teachers or arts teachers working additional hours. The remaining 20% is to pay for costs related to this instruction. Field trips could fall under that 20% — although that 20% also should cover such needs as art supplies, musical instruments and arts teacher training, state officials and other experts told The Times. The unions endorsing the litigation are United Teachers Los Angeles, Local 99 of Service Employees International Union, which represents most non-teaching workers, and Teamsters Local 572, which represents drivers, plant managers, cafeteria managers and some other workers. UTLA or Local 99 would represent the vast majority of the new arts instructors that would be hired. UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz emphasized the benefits of arts education and the importance of honoring the intent of the law. "I am frustrated and exasperated by this kind of shell game that we're playing with voters' money, and we're also playing with students, our babies, in this district, that deserve to have arts education on a daily basis in their schools," Myart-Cruz said. Highland Park parent Vicky Martinez, a plaintiff in the suit, said she actively campaigned for Prop. 28 but became frustrated when she saw no discernible increase in arts education at the schools her three children attend — and no satisfactory answers from questions raised by her and other parents. When she had attended public school, "I had the honor of having art. I was able to take dance," Martinez said. The arts made school engaging and "I knew that if I wanted to continue to do these things, I had to be in school, and I had to do good in school." "So when my kids went to the same school I attended, I thought, if I had it, surely they have to have it. And lo and behold, that wasn't the case," Martinez said. "So after we passed Prop. 28, I was really surprised that we weren't seeing an improvement in the arts across the board. It's very important to me, and it's very important to the kids in my community." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
