In light of the strike now underway at Los Angeles Unified School District, I’ve been reviewing the District’s financials.
In 2012, the District had revenues of $7.5 billion, expenses of $8.2 billion, 67,902 employees, and average daily attendance (ADA) of 547,592 students.
In 2022, the District had revenues of $12.4 billion, expenses of $10.8 billion, 82,574 employees, and ADA of 380,709.
Ie, revenues grew 65 percent, expenses grew 32 percent, employment grew 22 percent — and ADA declined 30 percent.
Make sense to you?
State legislators and the governor need to step up. For millions of California families, K-12 education is the most important service provided by their government. That service is governed by the state’s Education Code, which is written by the state legislature plus the governor, and funded largely by state income taxes, which were raised 30 percent in 2012 to improve K-12 education, though we’ve seen no improvement in student performance or even the quality of their experience in the classroom. Something is seriously wrong when shrinking numbers of students aren’t enjoying improvements and growing numbers of employees are striking despite school revenues that grew even faster.
Governance of local schools is a function of the Education Code, which a simple majority of the legislature plus the governor could amend tomorrow if desired. It is they who must ensure the well-being of LAUSD’s students, and public school students everywhere in California.
LAUSD's Financials
schools performance (as reflected in student performance): F.