L.A. Unified has fewer students; charter school enrollment rises sharply

Enrollment in traditional Los Angeles-area public schools has declined this fall, even as the number of students enrolled in charter schools has exploded, according to just-released data.

The drop at traditional schools is slightly more than 3%, with enrollment falling to 617,798 students. The number of students at independent charters is up nearly 19%, to 60,643 students. More students attend charter schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District than in any other district in the country.

Charter schools operate like their own school districts, with control over most of the funding generated by their students. With the opening of new charters in the Los Angeles area, the enrollment shift was not entirely unexpected, but it nonetheless has broad implications for the nation's second-largest school system. When the district sheds students, it also loses the funds that accompany them, which puts pressure on a district budget with built-in costs for services and facilities.

Fewer students ultimately result in staff reductions --- over and above those already caused by the state budget crisis.

Even if the charter students are added in, district enrollment is down 1.4% from last year, continuing a recent trend. The latest numbers are culled from an annual survey called “norm day,” which is important for setting staffing levels at schools as well as determining future funding.

-- Howard Blume

Comments

[Sue]

It's already been proven and reported at LAUSD board meetings that charters cause the district millions in funds. Part is due to the fact that there are certain services that are basic and can't be cut, and the other is the inequity in special ed funding, since charters historically enroll a much lower percentage and less severely disabled special ed student than traditional schools.

[Mario]

LAUSD really need to go back to the drawing board to get their American priorities together.

LA Public has gone viral because of bad management, ineffective teaching practices, and lack of accountability.

I took my girls out, because it is my duty to do what ever I can to make sure they get the best education possible to prepare them for a global competitive environment the world has not seen before.

LAUSD is stuck in reverse, teaching kids to know a little math, a little reading and writing and that is sufficient, is a dumb policy, but how else can you explain hiring under qualified teachers? Teaching in Spanish when kids have not even grasped English?

One of my daughters teachers wore dresses to work, that are about two inches below her thingy, kind of heavy around the rear so it would lift from corner to corner as she walked around, what little boy is going to focus on work?

Another teacher had tattoos down his arm to his wrist area, exposed, with large earrings in both ears, spiked hair, and two earrings in the right side corner of his lips.

Gang writing covers trash bins, lockers, every area where there is glass, tables etc. If you ever saw the movie LEAN ON ME with Morgan Freeman, you get some idea of what I am talking about even though the movie may have over exaggerated it.

In my personal opinion, the school has become a job from the administration to the janitorial staff, and one hand washes the other while both hands wash the face.

Charters are moving forward, and parents that want their children to do better than themselves are flocking to them like moths to flames.

[Dan Zogaib]

The people of this state and country will soon find out that it is not the schools that are failing the students, it is the students and their parents that are failing themselves. That will become evident as more and more people shift their kids to the charter schools. Right now, the charter schools have the cream of the crop when it comes to their students. As more and more students are shifted to those schools, they will become more and more like the public schools from which the students are coming from. I went to schools both in low income neighborhoods and middle class neighborhoods and I have a Bachelors Degree in Chemical Engineering from Cal Poly, Pomona. I actually dropped out of the nice middle class high school I was going to, Walnut High School, at 16. If a dropout can get a college degree, then it is not the schools that are the problem, it is the students!!!

[RAW]

No surprise here. LAUSD is a lost cause, with its ridiculous overhead, inefficient administration and dominance of unions. None of the stakeholders that call the shots at LAUSD have the best interests of students in mind. Little wonder students (and parents) vote with their feet. Since vested interests are so entrenched at LAUSD, that's the only way things will change. LAUSD will shrink until the pressure on the vested interest becomes too great to continue to resist change and enrich themselves. In hindsight, it's a shame the LAUSD administration got to lavish those big bond issues of the recent years on itself, for real estate projects that will now likely never be fully utilized. LAUSD is a money pit. Good riddance.

[Philip K]

If we take the annual budget for LAUSD ($22 Billion/yr) and divide by the number of students (620,000), we calculate the total annual cost = $35,000/student. Do you know of any school (public or private) that charges $35k/student and delivers the same mediocre performance as LAUSD?

Another point to consider, if we enforce the law that illegal aliens (without documentation) are not allowed in our public schools -- then the actual legal student population would drop by 40% to 372,000.

The LAUSD is an overstaffed inefficient beaurocracy with no future. It should be shut down immediately.

[Dan Basalone]

Phillip, while your conclusion may be correct, your facts are wrong. LAUSD does not have an annual operating budget of 22 billion dollars or $35,000 per child. You appear to be looking at the construction bonds as part of the operating budget. The reality is that the operating budget is about one-third of the amount stated. It is also true that a disproportionate amount of the budget is spent on special ed. students because of archaic state funding laws that rob the general fund to pay for the underfunded special ed. needs.

[Robert M]

This is not suprising considering that less than 5% of all LAUSD Students continue to college, and of that 5% less than 1% graduate. I have endured, through my children the misgivings of the LAUSD just as recently as today. This has got to end the district (administration) is to large and the money is spent on the wrong items.

[J. Ford]

If Mr. Basalone is correct about the disproportionate amount of money spent by LAUSD on special ed. students. How the the charter schools do it ?

[JP]

I agree with Dan Zogaib. I believe that if parents are not involved with their students education than there is a higher chance that students will fail and ultimately drop out. The school itself makes little difference- the parents play MUCH MORE of an importance in our schools.

[Jim Smoot]

Sigh...my son has just started preschool and I'm now knee deep in Google elementary school searches saved in a folder on my desktop. Apparently, just based on being 1 street out of my preferred school district, my son will end up at one of the lowest performing schools {a 32% success rate} which is nearly 90% Hispanic, 67% of which English is their second language. Now, I don't care whether these kids are Hispanic, Dutch, Ferengi...whatever....but with such a lack of diversity, how will my then 5 year old, fit in?
Thanks to the above article, I've switched my strategy from Plan A, begging for a transfer permit to Plan B, researching the best performing charter {or magnet} schools around the West LA area.
By the way, I am torn between this whole immigration thing. While looking for free preschools, I was given a leaflet on how to apply. We didn't qualify for free education because we didn't fit into the poverty bracket {earning less than $3K a month} but the leaflet DID say 'we do not discriminate, we do not ask the legality of parent of guardian's immigration status'. I curse the day I got into this country legally based on my education, hard work and skills, when I paid all sorts of fees to immigration lawyers and for Green Card processing BUT these 'illegal' kids are innocent and deserve an equal chance...even if citizens don't.
School districts, boundaries, zones and sub-districts...I'm already sick of it.

[Grace]

J. Ford, the answer to your question is they don't. Charter schools can be selective in who they admit. Do you think you would take in special ed students that require more funds and resources? One of the children in our school just came back from a charter school. He said he couldn't handle it. Too bad public schools can't be picky.

[cio.job.lausd]

I am writing this letter to encourage the District to consider all of their options prior to making a decision that will negatively impact the Information Technology Department. When perusing the LAUSDjobs website, I noticed that ITD is recruiting for the Chief Information Officer (CIO) position, and I felt it was imperative that I offer my own observations and share what I have learned through working a variety of positions at LAUSD. The District needs to be aware of the fact that the obvious choice is not necessarily the right choice.

With the recent Reduction In Force and subsequent bumping that has taken place, I have had the unique opportunity to work in, and outside, of ITD. So I have served ITD from multiple points of reference.

What I have found to be disconcerting is the methods by which the current Interim Chief Information Officer, Shahryar Khazei, conducts business. When trying to persuade an organization to utilize ITD’s services, he is very personable, attentive and engaging. However, when it comes to directing and supporting the ITD staff, he leads by fear and bullying. Mr. Khazei is the type of individual that will be disingenuous with district administrators to receive their support, and to ultimately be elevated to the position he covets. As he receives these promotions, it is the support personnel that are left in the wake of his path, that suffers the most. The level of contempt that he has for those serving his needs is appalling.

I can speak from both firsthand experience, and talking directly with other current and previous ITD employees that there was an overwhelming sense of discontent when he was appointed as the Interim Chief Information Officer. The staff remained optimistic due to the fact that this position was only on an interim basis and we trusted that the people who will make the decision for hiring ITD’s permanent CIO will evaluate our previous CIO, who lacked direction and focus, and recall the near disaster prior to rescinding the offer to the CIO out of the Florida school system. ITD has had its share of poor leadership, and desperately needs an individual that can guide this department toward the District’s vision, while treating his/her staff with respect.

I ask that the Board of Education, Superintendant and the Chief Operating Officer look at the candidates and do your research. And if you are going to consider Mr. Khazei, please consider the people he will be leading and talk to them. I am not referring to the select few on his management team but, the developers, the Administrative staff, the support groups. These are the people that are unjustly treated and led to feel that their efforts are never good enough, nor appreciated.

[Anthony]

Regarding the earlier comments about LAUSD's interim CIO, Shahryar Khazi:

I am stunned the Board of Education and the Superintendent is considering Khazi (currently the interim CIO) for the permanent position of LAUSD CIO.

Khazi has managed some of the District's largest and most complex software and technology projects with little success. As a consequence of his actions and the people he personally directs, thousands of teachers went without pay; student data critical to running a school was and is still not being collected (after years of software development); and the District has been charged -- and overcharged -- hundreds of millions of dollars trying to fix these and other software/technology projects.

As an example of his leadership, here are two of the largest projects he directed:

1) The LAUSD payroll system (BTS). $100-million SAP software that was supposed to replace an aging and dilapidated payroll system with a smooth running, efficient system. From the beginning, the implementation was plagued with snafus, "dirty" data, inept testing, and inexperienced consultants from Deloitte & Touche. Thousands of teachers went without pay or were paid late when the old system was shut off without appropriate testing of the new system. Predictable outcome: lawsuits, angry employees, investigative news stories, etc. Most of the software/data errors and problems were blamed on "training issues" by the interim CIO even though numerous studies blamed the technology and implementation. Incidentally -- the entire payroll training group was fired this year by the interim CIO as a "cost-cutting" measure. Apparently if you don't have training ... you won't have training issues.

2) SchoolMAX,the Integrated Student Information System, a $34-million dollar system designed to collect student, teacher and school data. Critical for receiving state funds for schools. The current status of ISIS? It's not functioning correctly and has had significant delays (years); it has been implemented at only a fraction of LAUSD schools; and has cost the District millions in additional costs by consultants. Again: much of this was blamed on training issues by Shahryar. Predicatably, the training group for ISIS was heavily cut. Who chose Maximus as the vendor for LAUSD? The interim CIO. Sadly, based on his recommendation, other school districts followed LAUSD and purchased SchoolMAX. They have not fared much better, as seen in the New York Times article (below). I guess it's "share the misery time" for LAUSD.

Note: both of the above projects have new directors leading them now. When the going gets rough, the "interim CIO’s" get going, I guess.

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New York Times headline (11/13/09):
"Prince George's schools to salvage computer system: Thousands of students were without schedules when classes started"

Article summary:
"An investigation by Prince George's County officials found the SchoolMax system that snarled the first days of the new school year had significant shortcomings that required repeated repairs. But it also determined that replacing the system would be more costly and time-consuming than fixing it..."

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There are a dozen examples of other projects that Shahryar has overseen and have been largely unsuccessful. Why the Board of Education or the Superintendent would want to keep, let alone promote, a CIO who has damaged the District substantially more than helped it, is beyond belief.

Instead of promoting an individual who has cost the District millions of dollars and project delays, perhaps it's time to clean house...starting with the interim CIO.