Free Republic

FROM Eureka to San Ysidro, and even beyond the borders of California, the Los Angeles Unified School District is the undisputed poster child of badly run school districts. To many, the district has become synonymous with its eight-year, slow-torture effort to build the nation's most expensive high school on an abandoned and toxic oil field. But most local observers know that it has a much longer history of dreadful management. That is why, when an analysis by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office revealed that the school district faces an unfunded $5 billion liability to provide full medical coverage to retired...

The Los Angeles Unified School District faces a potential financial crisis that threatens its future because of its unfunded $5 billion liability to provide full medical coverage to retired employees and their families, according to a new state analysis. The report by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office warned that soaring health-care costs, generous employee contracts and the failure to earmark money for the expenses pose a serious danger. It said the LAUSD needs to put away $500 million a year -- about 8 percent of its current budget -- for 30 years to cover a liability that could reach $11...

The fate of the Los Angeles Unified School District is a tragedy that is spreading across the country. To understand what is in store for America I offer my story about the LAUSD and why I abandoned it. As you will see, the cause is our toleration of illegal immigration from Mexico. In February of 2002 my wife and I were expecting our first child. We needed to move to a larger home. I worked in West Los Angeles but the home prices were generally less in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles where we were. Apart from...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made a surprise cameo in the city's mayoral race Thursday, lining up behind a controversial proposal by candidate Bob Hertzberg to dismantle the huge Los Angeles Unified School District. The popular governor, who lives in the city's Brentwood section, has said he will not endorse a candidate before the March 8 primary election. But Schwarzenegger, by embracing Hertzberg's signature issue, appears to be sending a tacit signal of his preference without taking the political risk of a formal endorsement in a crowded field. The Republican governor is backing Hertzberg's plan because he "supports...

The Los Angeles Board of Education has chosen a Pasadena assistant city attorney as its new special counsel, a lawyer with the backing of union leaders and the school board president but far less experience than others seeking the job. According to several sources familiar with the selection process, the school board voted 4-3 in a closed session to offer Maribel S. Medina the position, which could pay up to $240,000 a year. Medina specializes in land-use, environmental and real estate law. The vote to hire Medina is the latest in a series of board decisions that have caused some...

Two looming deadlines have created a "perfect storm" for Los Angeles Unified officials, who face the prospect of proposing teacher raises while officially reporting that the district's finances are uncertain. If the LAUSD board doesn't pinpoint $137 million in potential budget cuts by Wednesday, it will have to submit a "qualified" rating for the first time in district history. That qualified rating, down from "positive," could cost the district higher interest rates on billions of dollars in school construction bonds as well as more oversight by the Los Angeles County Office of Education. The board also is grappling with a...

Los Angeles Unified has until Dec. 15 to come up with $110 million of budget cuts or it faces a lower financial rating by the Los Angeles County Office of Education, district officials said Tuesday. If LAUSD fails to submit a potential list of cuts for the 2005-06 school year, its certification could fall for the first time ever from ``positive'' to either ``qualified'' or ``negative.'' Sharp cuts made earlier this year have put the district in stable financial shape for 2004-05, but the Office of Education says the district is on course for a $110 million shortfall in 2005-06....

The Los Angeles Unified School District's citizen bond oversight committee questioned on Wednesday how the district is spending voter-approved bond revenue and warned that it might run out of money before all projects are built. The panel has been asked to sign off on using bond revenue to pay salaries, leases and expense reimbursements, which members noted were legal but violate the spirit of the two bond measures -- to build and repair schools. Members said these items should have been paid for using other sources, including the district's general fund. And while the district has about $14 billion in...

Tired of double-digit dropout rates and graduates who are unprepared for college, Los Angeles Unified leaders are turning to "small learning communities" to transform the district's large, impersonal high schools. The communities, several of which will debut this summer and when the fall semester starts Sept. 9, will build upon traits of successful programs already established at some of the district's most overcrowded campuses, such as the humanities magnet at Cleveland High School and the culinary arts academy at Monroe High School. "What we're trying to do is to find that hook that will make students come to school every...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A federal grand jury has opened an investigation into the Los Angeles Unified School District's purchase of its $74.5 million downtown headquarters. LAUSD Inspector General Don Mullinax disclosed the investigation Thursday in a memo to school district officials. "I am writing to inform you that at the request of the U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California, the Office of the Inspector General is providing assistance in a federal grand jury investigation regarding the purchase of the Beaudry building," Mullinax wrote. Board member David Tokofsky, who cast the only vote against the purchase of the building,...

Management errors devastate LAUSD's food services budget By Jennifer Radcliffe Staff Writer A series of management blunders has turned the once-lucrative Los Angeles Unified School District's food services division into an operation that's lost $72 million in three years and may need a bailout from the cash-strapped general fund, which pays for teachers and other classroom costs. District leaders said the division -- which made a $10 million profit five years ago -- is under close watch because its reserve has fallen to $24 million. That's just $4 million above the state-mandated level. They said a number of management errors,...

<p>Merrill Lynch, which fell from favor in California for its central role in Orange County's historic 1994 bankruptcy, has repaired its image in the state and is now a leading competitor for the job of financing California's unprecedented debt.</p> <p>Today, Merrill Lynch ranks second among the banks selling long-term bonds in California. It assisted with last year's $11 billion in state borrowing and an earlier deal to help the struggling Los Angeles Unified School District.</p>

"In many American cities, local politicians spend the winter months helping clear away snow. But Southern California is different. Here, elected officials, sometimes using taxpayer money, bring the white stuff in. Man-made snow has already come to Pacoima, Long Beach, downtown Los Angeles and many places in between this year. (A version of the stuff — hail — fell for free in Watts last month, but cost a bundle to clean up.) And in the coming weeks, it is scheduled for several other locales, including a patch in Exposition Park where a representative from Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn's...

THE FOLLOWING IS A LETTER I RECEIVED FROM ASSEMBLYMEMBER DENNIS MOUNTJOY REGARDING ASSEMBLY BILL 1326Dear Concerned Grandparent:Thank you for writing to me regarding your support for my nine-word bill,Assembly Bill 1326, which reads:"The promotion of homosexuality in public education is prohibited."This measure would have prohibited the promotion of homosexuality in public education. Unfortunately, the Assembly Education Committee defeated AB 1326 on January 16. All four Republicans present voted in support. Eight Democrats voted in opposition. A copy of the votes is enclosedA Los Angeles Unigied School District (LAUSD) teacher testified in support of AB 1326. He explained and displayed the ...