Parents fear students may lose placement outside L.A. Unified
Cortines wants to limit out-of-district permits to help curb budget shortfall. More than 12,200 students now use them.
 Dana Middle School Principal Aileen Harbeck, right, shows Ivy Koester, 9, and other L.A. Unified students and parents around the Hawthorne campus. Transfer pupils from Los Angeles make up 18% of the Wiseburn School District's student body. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times / March 25, 2010) |
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Parents touring Richard Henry Dana Middle School in Hawthorne were impressed last week with descriptions of its history, science and arts programs, intrigued by a class conducting DNA experiments and pleased with the cleanliness of the campus. But one issue dominated: Will my child get a permit from the Los Angeles Unified School District to attend Dana?
It is a question on the minds of thousands of parents in the wake of a decision by Los Angeles schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines to greatly limit permits that currently allow more than 12,200 students who live in the district to attend schools elsewhere.
Cortines, facing a $640-million budget shortfall, said he wants the transfer students back -- along with the $51 million they bring in state funding. L.A. Unified has been lax in allowing so many permits in the past, Cortines said.
He argued that the district has improved academics and school options so that families shouldn't feel the need to escape.
But students' flight from L.A. Unified factored into a controversial decision by the Beverly Hills school board, which voted in January to end special permits for hundreds of students who live outside of that city. According to L.A. Unified figures, 945 of those students were from the L.A.
It is a question on the minds of thousands of parents in the wake of a decision by Los Angeles schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines to greatly limit permits that currently allow more than 12,200 students who live in the district to attend schools elsewhere.
Cortines, facing a $640-million budget shortfall, said he wants the transfer students back -- along with the $51 million they bring in state funding. L.A. Unified has been lax in allowing so many permits in the past, Cortines said.
He argued that the district has improved academics and school options so that families shouldn't feel the need to escape.
But students' flight from L.A. Unified factored into a controversial decision by the Beverly Hills school board, which voted in January to end special permits for hundreds of students who live outside of that city. According to L.A. Unified figures, 945 of those students were from the L.A.
