Three things to know about how L.A. schools are using your money
Tuesday, the Los Angeles Unified School District approved $7.6 billion in spending for the upcoming fiscal year. But where does that money go, and who decides how to spend it? Here are a few things to know about the 2016-17 budget.
1. Most of the money goes to salaries and benefits
Most of the general fund money— about $6.1 billion—goes toward salaries and benefits for certificated employees (mainly in the classroom) and classified employees (mainly out of the classroom).
In 2015-16, the school district had more than 60,000 full-time employees, including teachers, principals and school support staff who aren’t in the classroom. In the coming year, the district will pay the balance of a two-year, 10% raise for teachers and other employees.
The district will also add more elective teachers to middle schools and high schools, and introduce teachers to make class sizes smaller for 55 elementary schools with the highest needs.
2. The district has to give more resources to high-needs students.
The district probably will receive about $5.4 billion of its budget from the state through the Local Control Funding Formula, which gives extra money to districts based on the Three things to know about how L.A. schools are using your money - LA Times:
