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LA Unified set to vote on preliminary budget cuts
LA Teachers Protest Proposed Layoffs
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LA Unified set to vote on preliminary budget cuts
LA Unified set to vote on preliminary budget cuts
Public school districts in California must submit preliminary budgets to county education officials next week. Administrators at the Los Angeles Unified School District are set to vote on a budget plan tomorrow with significant cuts.
The district predicts that its budget will shrink by nearly half a billion dollars. Last month, Superintendent Ramon Cortines warned the district’s labor leaders to accept pay cuts, or face the layoffs of 8,500 employees. Cortines asked employees to take four unpaid days off and a 12 percent pay cut.
The leaders of two unions have agreed to the furlough days. The district’s largest union, United Teachers Los Angeles, has not. Earlier this year L.A. Unified approved the firing of about 2,000 teachers to close a budget deficit. All but a couple hundred kept their jobs through long-term substitute teaching positions.
A lot can happen between now and July 1, when the district submits a final fiscal year budget. School district voters may see a parcel tax proposal to fund schools. The federal government’s set to offer millions of dollars to districts that embrace innovation and reform. L.A. Unified fits the bill. The district’s moving to transfer control of many new and low -performing campuses to organizations that apply.
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