$459 Million in Cuts Are Considered for Fiscally Strapped L.A. Schools

Facing its worst budget crisis in a decade, the Los Angeles Unified School District is debating whether to increase class sizes, eliminate specialized programs for immigrant students and cut funding for counselors, nurses, assistant principals and other staff.

The 736,000-student district is studying those steps and other reductions totaling $459 million--about 9% of its general fund budget--to balance its books in the coming school year. Final votes by the school board are expected next week, along with continued protests by parents and teachers.

Officials have recommended $239 million in cuts directly affecting schools and another $42 million from administrative offices. The rest of the savings would come from delaying expansions in many other areas, such as after-school programs and staff for gardening and maintenance.

L.A. Unified officials said they do not anticipate layoffs, but an undetermined number of teachers, administrators and other employees could be bumped to different jobs within the district next year if their current positions are eliminated. This would occur as Los Angeles schools anticipate 12,500 additional students.

“We’re obviously working through a very difficult time,” said district Supt. Roy Romer, who is proposing the cuts. “The only way we’re going to survive is to redouble our efforts.”

Teachers, parents and some school board members said they fear that the austerity measures could undermine progress in test scores and lead to deterioration of campuses.

Under Romer’s plan, many classes in grades four to 12 would rise by two students, pushing some above 40 seats. Among the changes, specialized classes for failing second-graders who have been held back would double in size, to 20 students.

“I think it would defeat the whole purpose of the class,” said Eileen Morris, one of three teachers who work with struggling second-graders at Carson Elementary School. “Most of our children have a variety of learning challenges. When we have 10 students, we get to work with each child each day.”

Adding to the current tension, district officials said there is little money to pay for a 5% raise sought by United Teachers-Los Angeles in ongoing contract negotiations. Union leaders insist that the money can be found if the district cuts deeper into its central offices and reduces consultant contracts.

“Read my lips: Hands off the classroom. Hands off the students. Hands off class size increases, counselors, nurses,” Day Higuchi, the president of the Los Angeles teachers union, told the school board Thursday during a meeting to review the budget. “Your proposal is shortsighted.”

Another speaker urged the school board to protect library aides at a time when the district is aggressively pressing literacy reforms.

“We do not want to see the school libraries closed half the day,” said Connie Moreno of the California School Employees Assn., which represents the aides.

The budget reductions are necessary because of increased costs for special education, workers’ compensation and legal services, among other things, Romer said. State funding, his staff said, is not keeping pace with those and other expenses.

Romer’s plan contains dozens of cuts, touching on such varied activities as school police, transportation and accounting. On Tuesday, the school board is scheduled to cast a long series of votes on the cuts.

The trustees have expressed reservations about several proposals, particularly those eliminating some programs for preschoolers and dropouts.

“There is a total lack of creativity and thoughtfulness in this budget,” board member David Tokofsky said in an interview. “The most energetic teachers, counselors and nurses will leave. They will never come back.”

Overall, individual schools would see their general fund budgets reduced by 4% while central administration and the 11 local district offices would be cut 8%.

Schools that receive extra federal money for low-income children would use those funds to help make up for the lost district revenues. But critics stressed that those campuses would have less money for nurses, counselors and psychologists.

The precise impact on schools will not be known for weeks. After the school board votes, principals will begin assembling their own campus spending plans.

Several school administrators said they are apprehensive about having to choose among essential services.

“Can you imagine not having nurses and psychologists?” said Sheridan Cole, interim principal of Berendo Middle School in the Pico Union district. “That would be a devastating loss to a school.”

School Nurses May Be Cut

Hollenbeck Middle School Principal Victoria Castro said her Boyle Heights campus may have to cut funding for nurses. “In a high-poverty area like this, sometimes a school nurse serves as a first stop for the medical care for a family,” said Castro, a former school board member.

Teachers are trying to avert closure of the Bellagio Road Newcomer School in Bel-Air, which serves 390 immigrant children from El Salvador, Guatemala, Korea, China, Armenia, Russia and elsewhere. The students, in third through eighth grades, would be enrolled at general schools throughout the district under the budget axing.

“We’re going to see many kids maybe even drop out, because it’s very difficult when you come here brand new,” said Barbara Ellis, a teacher at the school. “We have a very clear understanding of what those children need and how to help them.”

The district’s budget crisis is the most serious in a decade, officials said. In 1992, the district had to slash $400 million from a $3.8-billion budget. It did so partly by cutting employee salaries.

Romer on Thursday accused board members of “micro-managing” the budget and urged his bosses to make difficult if unpopular decisions. “We have a budget ... in this district that is going to be very painful,” he said.

Several school board members objected to Romer’s plan to do away with four early childhood centers for a savings of $1 million. Among those is the Berkeley Avenue Children’s Center in Echo Park, attended by 39 students, ages 2 to 5.

Parents and staffers said students will not get the attention they receive at Berkeley if they are transferred to larger schools.

“They need to get their priorities straight,” said teacher Valerie DeLong. “If they want a student to do well in elementary school, they’ve got to invest the money in early childhood education.”

Marcela Lucero recalled that a teacher noticed how her 5-year-old son had trouble cutting with scissors because he is left-handed.

The teacher was able to buy left-handed scissors for him to practice cutting.

“If he was at a bigger center, I don’t know ... if they would have noticed that.”

Berkeley has two teachers, a principal and eight staff members who may be transferred elsewhere. “It’s sad because I get so attached to the children and their parents,” said Principal Thelma Cruz.

“We’ve seen the children when they came and couldn’t speak a word of English,” Cruz said. “Now they sing and dance.”