L.A. Unified to Halt Out-of-District Transfers
Los Angeles
The superintendents of three Los Angeles County school districts are planning a joint appeal to their Los Angeles Unified counterpart in a bid to keep some 3,000 city students who collectively bring in millions of dollars in state funding to their districts.
Culver City, Santa Monica-Malibu and Las Virgenes are three of the districts that will be hardest hit by LAUSD's decision this week to rein in its liberal inter-district permit policy, which this school year released more than 12,200 city students to surrounding districts at a loss of $51 million in state funding.
"We're working almost as a consortium," said Culver City Unified Superintendent Myrna Rivera Cote. "We're planning to send an appeal to LAUSD. We'll see what we can do."
LAUSD's decision comes as the district faces a $640 million budget deficit and the possibility of several thousand teacher layoffs in the fall.
Because of the bleak financial picture, LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines said his district can no longer afford to lose the $4,900 per pupil the state pays the district by releasing students to other school systems.
Cortines said that although he recognizes all school districts are suffering massive cutbacks in state funding, LAUSD's budget deficit is the largest. He added that the district has made huge strides in its academic offerings, including magnet schools, small learning community campuses and several California Distinguished Schools, as well as 87 new schools.
