Is School Voucher System In Los Angeles A Done Deal?

Los Angeles CA

29 August, 2021

10:51 AM

Description

"Every one of our children should have a backpack full of cash strapped on their back and our schools should vie for the privilege of educating our kids and having that backpack turned over to them." - Jeanne Allen The bureaucrats at the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) say that beginning in the 2022-23 school year, they will change the way that schools are funded so that the money will be given directly to principals based on the number of students enrolled in their schools. Children will become "backpacks full of cash" with school sites competing for students who are cheaper to educate and will bring them higher test scores. Left behind will be children with special education needs, English learners, and those affected by poverty. Under the Student Centered Funding (SCF) scheme, principals in struggling schools will be forced to cut back essential services as they struggle to maintain their budgets sending neighborhood schools into downward spirals from which they may never recover. The district says that this system will increase "transparency" in the system, but the change was made behind closed doors without the input of stakeholders. Perhaps this is why the Parent Engagement Committee was shut down by Board President Kelly Gonez. According to the district's website, "LA Unified staff, principals, teachers, labor partners, parents, students, and community members will be able to contribute to the overall design of the SCF." However, in order to do so, they will need access to a flux capacitor, as these advisory sessions were supposed to take place "over the summer of 2021." If public input was actually obtained, it was from carefully controlled representatives instead of in open sessions where differing opinions were sought. Perhaps Nick Melvoin gave them Speak Up's mailing list like he did when he sought "input" for his failed School Performance Framework (SPF) data manipulation scheme. The district says that "the initial implementation of SCF will begin in 2022-23, with full implementation beginning in 2024-25." However, the elected members of the school board have yet to take the vote that is needed to move ahead with this drastic change to how schools are funded. It is unclear why the army of bureaucrats that Austin Beutner left behind is spending money promoting this funding scheme as a done deal without this approval. When the district says that this model has been "implemented in other school districts such as Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, New York City and San Francisco", it leaves out one important word - "successfully." Perhaps this is because these other cities found that this type of funding resulted in neighborhood schools being closed. Many of the schools that remained open found themselves without school librarians or with larger class sizes. As principals struggle to balance their school budgets, they have been forced to hire cheaper, inexperienced teachers over experienced or better-educated teachers. The students of Los Angeles cannot afford to be guinea pigs in another education "reform" experiment. This is especially true when other districts have shown that the result will be a further decimation of our neighborhood schools, especially for those in BIPOC communities. The school board must shut SCF down and concentrate on making sure that all schools are fully funded, especially those serving our highest-needs students. Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for students with special education needs and public education. He is an elected member of the Northridge East Neighborhood Council and serves as the Education Chair. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD's District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him "a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles." For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.