L.A. schools will pay victims $139 million in child abuse scandal - Don't L.A. Democrat Party Members Who Run the Public Schools Care About The Children?

The L.A. Times reports:

The Los Angeles Unified School District will pay out $139 million in settlements in the Miramonte Elementary School child abuse scandal, bringing nearer to a close the costly and lengthy case that led to changes in state law and district policies, attorneys said Friday.

The payouts will go to settle about 150 legal claims from former Miramonte students who were subjected to third-grade teacher Mark Berndt's lewd acts and their families.

"We hope that this will help the communty heal and move forward," said L.A. Unified general counsel Dave Holmquist. "We really want the community to feel healed by this."

Berndt pleaded no contest to the charges a year ago and was sentenced to 25 years in prison, but the case against L.A. Unified has dragged out.

Are you a bad parent if you send your children to L.A. public schools? Don't L.A. Democrat Party members who run the public schools care about the children? With numbers this large we can only conclude that public education , in L.A. , is a racketeering enterprise because 150 legal claims is "too numerous to be incidental. "

Magnets have become some of L.A.'s highest-scoring public schools

The L.A. Times reports:

Test scores released last week showed that students at L.A. Unified, the nation's second-largest school district, lag far behind the statewide average.

But the city's magnets soared far above other L.A. schools, according to new data obtained by The Times.

At traditional L.A. public schools, 35% of students met or exceeded English standards. Only 25% did the same for math.

At the city's magnets, the scores were nearly twice as high. For the same English exam, 61% of magnet students met or exceeded state standards. For math, the number was 48%.

There is an elite group of magnets :

The highest scores came from a small subset of magnets for gifted and talented students.

Rather than rely on a lottery like the rest of the city's magnets, about 40 schools demand applicants meet academic requirements, which can include how well they performed on state tests.

In total, 83% of students at L.A.'s gifted magnets met or exceeded English standards. For math, 75% did the same.

Separated from the rest of L.A. Unified, those gifted magnets rank close to some of the state's highest scoring districts, such as those found in the wealthy enclaves of Palo Alto and Laguna Beach.

But, not everyone is happy.

Test scores complicate the debate over expanding L.A. charter schools

The L.A. Times reports:

As the battle to greatly expand charter schools in Los Angeles begins, both sides are touting statistics they claim make their case.

Charter forces point to test scores showing that their students, on average, do better than those in L.A. Unified.

L.A. Unified officials put forward a different set of numbers. They argue that it's more accurate to compare charter schools not with the district as a whole but with magnet schools. In that match, magnets generally do better.

The struggles of government schools.

The Number of Children in L.A. Is Shrinking . Public Education in America's Second Biggest City on The Brink of Financial Disaster.

The L.A. Weekly reports on the L.A. public school system:

Between 1980 and 2000, LAUSD's population exploded from about 500,000 to more than 700,000, causing classrooms to become seriously overcrowded. Elected officials responded to the crisis by moving schools to a year-round schedule, by busing students to less crowded schools, and by hiring hundreds of teachers and throwing up hundreds of cheap, prefab bungalows on playgrounds.

Then, in the 1990s and 2000s, voters passed a series of bond measures to fund the construction of more than 100 new schools. Some, like the $578 million Robert Kennedy School, built on the site of the Ambassador Hotel, became among the most expensive public schools in the country.

"We had overcrowding, we were busing kids — some of them were on the bus for a couple of hours," says LAUSD superintendent Michelle King, who's been with the school district since 1978. "At that point, we really wanted to ensure every child could attend their neighborhood school. No one could have foreseen, I think, that the landscape would change."

A little more than a decade ago, something unexpected happened. The district's enrollment, which peaked in 2004 at just under 750,000, began to drop. Some of the loss was to independent charters, a growing trend that would soon amount to a veritable exodus of students. But the total number of kids being served by both the district and charters also was dropping. The reason was simple: People are having fewer children. They're also having them later in life — and they're often leaving L.A. once they do.

There's more:

Today, LAUSD's enrollment is around 514,000, a number that the district estimates will fall below half a million by 2018. But L.A. Unified's costs have not gone down. They've gone up. This year's $7.59 billion budget is half a billion dollars more than last year's.

What could be worse?

Today, the district has more than 60,000 employees, fewer than half of whom are teachers. School board members were shocked to hear, in a report by the superintendent in May 2016, that LAUSD's administrative staff had grown 22 percent over the previous five years. Over that same period of time, the number of teachers had dropped by 9 percent, mostly due to attrition.

It appears big public school districts just don't work. We suggest you read the entire article .

L.A. Public Schools Add More Empty Space

The L.A. Times reports:

San Fernando Middle School is expecting 1,600 students this fall, but officials estimate that the north Valley campus could handle 2,300. Lake Primary Center in Echo Park is expecting 160 but has room for 260. And Lincoln High School in Lincoln Heights is anticipating about 2,700 students; it has space for about 3,000.

What do Los Angeles Unified School District officials plan to do with the empty space? Add to it.

The district plans to build campuses that will take hundreds of students from those schools, further reducing their enrollment. By the time the building program is completed in 2012, there will be tens of thousands of empty seats at dozens of once-crowded schools, a Times analysis shows.

The district will use boundary changes, smaller class sizes and other methods to even out enrollment and reduce the surplus. A decade ago, the nation's second-largest school system was bursting at the seams, with campuses so crowded that students sometimes had no desks. And the number of students was predicted to keep growing. The dire situation persuaded local voters to approve four bonds, which launched a $20-billion building and modernization program.

But now, with 180 new schools and additions completed and 79 more on the drawing board, things have changed dramatically.

Economic and demographic changes have resolved some of the space crunch that the construction program was created to fix.

Over the last decade, fewer people moved to Southern California, large numbers of school-aged children grew up, and the birth rate among Latinos declined. Some students left traditional public schools to enroll in publicly financed charters, experts and officials said. Rising housing prices changed the face of some neighborhoods in the urban core, bringing singles and childless couples into what were once communities of large, poor immigrant families.

As a result, L.A. Unified has lost 57,000 students, nearly 8% of its total enrollment.

Great moments in public education.

Epic changes loom for L.A. schools after charter-school forces win watershed victory

The L.A. Times reports:

Supporters of charter schools appeared to win control of the Los Angeles school board Tuesday, a watershed moment with huge implications for how students are taught in America’s second-largest school district.

The charter school movement has long been a major force in Los Angeles school circles. But the victory Tuesday night by pro-charter forces — who dramatically outspent rivals in what was the most expensive election in school board history — gives them the opportunity to reshape the district.

The election marks a defeat for teacher union forces, who have long been a power center in L.A. school politics. With their new majority, charter school backers can press their campaign to expand such schools across the city. Charter forces have long been critical of how the LAUSD is run. Now they will have to show they can steer the massive, often frustrating, bureaucracy better.

The teachers union lose a big one in Blue America.

Enrollment Drops at L.A. Unified Public School System

The L.A. Times reports:

An apparent exodus of students to charter schools, combined with an overall enrollment decline, is disrupting Los Angeles-area schools and exacerbating an ongoing budget crisis.

Local independently run charter schools added more than 9,500 students this fall, a surge of almost 19% to more than 60,000. At the same time, enrollment is down more than 19,000 students, about 3%, at schools affiliated with the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Total district enrollment has fallen to 678,441, down from a peak of 747,009 in 2003.

It appears that this Blue American city really is in decline. Just a reminder, it appears illegals can't keep L.A. Public Schools' numbers up.

L.A. schools chief expected to get coronavirus emergency power to shut campuses

L.A. schools chief expected to get coronavirus emergency power to shut campuses https://t.co/r6mwCG5ofx

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) March 10, 2020

'Social contagion': California couple sues LA schools for trans 'secrecy policy' after teen's suicide

'Social contagion': California couple sues LA schools for trans 'secrecy policy' after teen's suicide https://t.co/Ipwd5IDHas pic.twitter.com/5sjGqBVQva

— New York Post (@nypost) March 14, 2026

L.A. Schools Host LGBT Club For 4-Year-Olds, Promote ‘Two Spirit’ Sexuality And Child Mutilation

L.A. Schools Host LGBT Club For 4-Year-Olds, Promote ‘Two Spirit’ Sexuality And Child Mutilationhttps://t.co/iAjXftfbP3

— The Federalist (@FDRLST) December 15, 2021

Bar set low for lifetime job in L.A. schools

The L.A. Times reports on how easy is it to get tenure in those L.A. public schools:

* Nearly all probationary teachers receive a passing grade on evaluations. Fewer than 2% are denied tenure.

* The reviews are so lacking in rigor as to be meaningless, many instructors say. Before a teacher gets tenure, school administrators are required to conduct only a single, pre-announced classroom visit per year. About half the observations last 30 minutes or less. Principals are rarely held responsible for how they perform the reviews.

* The district's evaluation of teachers does not take into account whether students are learning. Principals are not required to consider testing data, student work or grades. L.A. Unified, like other districts in California, essentially ignores a state law that since the 1970s has required districts to weigh pupil progress in assessing teachers and administrators.

Great moments in socialism.

L.A. schools close for over 500,000 students as workers strike, demand 30% raise

It's for the children.

L.A. schools close for over 500,000 students as workers strike, demand 30% raise https://t.co/lK4LoglSAe

— Not the Bee (@Not_the_Bee) March 21, 2023

ICE raids are up across Southern California while enrollment in L.A. schools is down. Thousands of students are missing from class. Could they be gone for good?

ICE raids are up across Southern California while enrollment in L.A. schools is down.

Thousands of students are missing from class. Could they be gone for good?

7 On Your Side Investigates TODAY at 5 p.m. pic.twitter.com/SIh5wC0ptg

— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) December 4, 2025

L.A. Public Schools Layoff Some of Their Best Teachers: Union Contract Protects the Worst Through Seniority

The L.A. Times reports on who wins and loses in the L.A. Public School system:

Because seniority is largely unrelated to performance, the district has laid off hundreds of its most promising math and English teachers. About 190 ranked in the top fifth in raising scores and more than 400 ranked in the top 40%.

Schools in some of the city's poorest areas were disproportionately hurt by the layoffs. Nearly one in 10 teachers in South Los Angeles schools was laid off, nearly twice the rate in other areas. Sixteen schools lost at least a fourth of their teachers, all but one of them in South or Central Los Angeles.

It's time to separate school from state.

Villaraigosa advocates letting outside operators bid for control of L.A. Unified schools

The L.A. Times reports:

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Tuesday he will push the school district to allow outside operators to bid for control of hundreds of campuses, a move he described as the centerpiece of education reform for his second term.

The proposal drew the ire of the teachers union, which has strongly criticized the mayor's own school-improvement efforts at 10 schools, including Roosevelt High in Boyle Heights. Villaraigosa, in turn, called the union "the biggest defender of the status quo."

The mayor's goal, embodied in part in a proposal by Board of Education member Yolie Flores Aguilar, would let charter-school organizations, the mayor's nonprofit and other groups compete to run 50 new schools scheduled to open over the next four years. The school board is scheduled to take up that motion later this month.

Villaraigosa also wants to allow outside groups or the district to shut down and restaff hundreds of existing schools that have long been rated "failing" under federal accountability rules. Supt. Ramon C. Cortines and other officials have said that closing unsuccessful schools is a logical outgrowth of the Flores Aguilar plan.

It's time to separate school from state.

L.A. public schools in financial trouble

The L.A.Daily News reports that L.A. schools are in bad financial shape.The generous benefits given out to teachers is getting quite expensive even with the high taxes.So,what do the teacher's union want? :

United Teachers Los Angeles officials said their members will not compromise on health benefits.

"The best possibility might be (for) the federal government or the state to intercede or to give the district a long-term payment plan to make it as painless as possible," said Sam Kresner, executive assistant to the UTLA president.

Amazing isn't it? You might want to read the whole article.Remember less pain to the unions means higher taxes to those who actually pay taxes.

Los Angeles school district will sharply raise taxes on property owners

The L.A. Times reports:

The Los Angeles Unified School District plans to sharply raise the property taxes of hundreds of thousands of L.A. homeowners because the recession has pushed down tax revenues needed to repay school bonds. The economic downturn has also caused a potential cash-flow crisis for the nation's largest school-construction program.

The district is allowed to raise taxes under little-known legal protections for bond holders. In essence, if revenues from property taxes can't cover installment payments for bond debt, L.A. Unified can raise tax rates, even if they rise above past projections.

Here's more on the expensive failure called the L.A. Schools.

Detroit schools' decline and teacher sickout reflect bad economy and demographic shifts

The L.A. Times reports:

The mostly poor and black students enrolled in Detroit Public Schools have been exposed to lead, have endured crumbling classrooms, and have some of the lowest literacy rates in the country. They've also seen one neighborhood school after another shut down.

Then this month they had to endure something else. For two days, most of them had no school to go to.

On May 2 and 3 — the start of Teacher Appreciation Week — scores of teachers called in sick, shutting down 97% of schools. The action came about after the teachers union said it learned that the district was running out of money, and that teachers' paychecks might not be guaranteed past June 30.

Most teachers went back to school after the union secured a promise that they would be paid through the end of June.

There's more:

The problems paralleled Detroit's overall downturn as it lost population and jobs as industry declined.

"The district is starved for cash," said Mike Addonizio, an education professor at Wayne State University. "That brought them to where they are today."

A major driver of that loss in revenue has been the loss of students. In 2002-2003, Detroit Public Schools counted 164,496 students in its ranks — by this year, that number was down to 47,000. And with each student that leaves, so do several thousand dollars. The district has responded by closing schools, but still retains empty buildings.


The number of K-12 students overall in Detroit — those in private schools and charters as well as public school — dropped from 201,774 in 2002 to 119,758 in 2012.

Imagine that.

No Demand For More Lawyers

The L.A. Times reports:

From 2004 through 2008, the field grew less than 1% per year on average, going from 735,000 people making a living as attorneys to just 760,000, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics postulating that the field will grow at the same rate through 2016. Taking into account retirements, deaths and that the bureau's data is pre-recession, the number of new positions is likely to be fewer than 30,000 per year. That is far fewer than what's needed to accommodate the 45,000 juris doctors graduating from U.S. law schools each year.

This jobs gap is even more problematic given the rising cost of tuition. In 2008, the median tuition at state schools for nonresidents was $26,000 a year, and $34,000 for private schools -- and much higher in some states, such as California. Students racked up an average loan debt in 2007-08 of $59,000 for students from public law schools and $92,000 for those from private schools, according to the ABA, and a recent Law School Survey of Student Engagement found that nearly one-third of respondents said they would owe about $120,000.

Such debt would be manageable if a world of lucrative jobs awaited the newly minted attorneys, but this is not the case. A recent working paper by Herwig Schlunk of Vanderbilt Law School contends that with the exception of some of those at the best schools, going for a law degree is a bad investment and that most students will be "unlikely ever to dig themselves out from" under their debt. This problem is exacerbated by the existing law school system.

You'll want to read the whole article. The solution is for the federal government to stop subsidizing people to go to law school.

California schools barred from using 'Redskins' as team name or mascot

The L.A. Times reports:

California became the first state in the nation to pass a law prohibiting public schools from using the term "Redskins" as a team name or mascot.

Gov. Jerry Brown on Sunday approved the measure barring the use of the term that many Native Americans find offensive but vetoed a separate measure that would have barred public properties from being named after individuals associated with the Confederacy.

As of Jan. 1, 2017, all public schools will be barred from using the term "Redskin," which many Native Americans consider a racial slur. The measure by Assemblyman Luis Alejo (D-Watsonville) will allow schools that use materials that contain the term, such as uniforms, to phase out their use to alleviate cost concerns. The new law will affect four California high schools in Merced, Calaveras, Tulare and Madera counties.

No word yet on whether California schools will be allowed to mention a certain NFL team.