As school budgets worsen, district-splitting option picks up steam

Board member John de Beck's plan includes adding four board members to the five member board.

During his run for Los Angeles mayor in 2005, former Democratic speaker of the Assembly Bob Hertzberg made it a staple of his campaign to promote the splitting of the Los Angeles School District. He envisioned dismantling the school district into smaller, more manageable systems that could be more responsive to parents and community leaders. As the second-largest school district in the nation, Hertzberg believed the mayor should have substantial control over the schools, calling the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) a “big fat roadblock” and “just impossible to deal with.”

But Hertzberg’s call for the breakup came during a time when Los Angeles elementary schools’ test scores were on the rise and the district was starting a $14 billion school building program to reduce overcrowding. His plan for a new system was ignored by his main rivals in the race and eventually the voters, as Antonio Villaraigosa (who recently started his second term) won the election.

Now, the LAUSD is being called one of the most dysfunctional and poorly run districts in the state. Several news outlets in Los Angeles have estimated the deficit the district faces at between $1.1 billion and $1.6 billion through 2012. The teacher’s union has yet to accept any pay cuts or reductions in light of the district’s financial problems. About one-half of the federal stimulus money the district received has already been used, and it has not been enough to save jobs. The district is also facing cuts, even though there has been declining enrollment.

“Many of the cuts could have been avoided if the district had reduced spending over the years in light of declining enrollment,” said LAUSD chief financial officer Megan Reilly in the L.A. Daily News.

L.A.’s problems have been brought up as San Diego Unified deals with its own financial problems and the possibility of splitting up its school district, which is the second-largest in the state behind L.A. In early June, the SDUSD was facing the possibility of cutting high school sports, art, and other major programs before the deficit almost magically dropped to $106 million from $180 million, partly as a result of spending freezes.

Like other districts, San Diego Unified will rely on one-time funds from the federal stimulus package to cover some expenses and dip into $6.2 million of stimulus funds intended for next year. It will increase class sizes, decrease busing, and hold off on ordering new textbooks. School board member John de Beck is looking to a larger scale solution for the district, which includes making the district smaller.

“The emphasis on the state level has been to consolidate districts,” said San Diego Unified school board member John de Beck. “Union districts (K-12 districts) are considered to be more efficient, but when they get huge, there are whole departments that are duplicative or self-serving…Los Angeles is bloated, San Diego is probably bloated.”

One approach advocated by de Beck is to re-organize districts in a cost-effective, localized way. Besides keeping union and business interests out of “a war they needn’t have,” de Beck believes the move will allow for increased participation from parents and teachers and save the use of full-time employees on part-time jobs.

“It would be great if the state let go of control,” he noted. “The Legislature is not interested in letting local districts make their own decisions.”

Jim Esterbrooks of the San Diego County Office of Education said he can see the advantages of small districts.

“They enable top administrators to be more in touch,” Esterbrooks said. “From Del Mar to Leucadia, there are four districts, and it seems crazy—but people that live in those places like it that way.”

Currently, de Beck is holding a series of forums around the city to promote his idea of creating a second district, called the San Diego Coastal Unified School District. It would consist of three to eight high schools, and the elementary and middle school would funnel students to them. The new district would allow for communities and school staff to better meet the needs of the students, according to de Beck.

“You have to decide whether you want a dinosaur managing your schools for the rest of your lives. This is an opportunity to take control of your school,” de Beck said in his first forum held at Correia Middle School in Point Loma.

The plan outlines a new school district that would include as few as three high schools in La Jolla, Mission Bay and Point Loma. The expanded district plan could include University City, Clairemont and Kearney high schools. The largest design would also grab Mira Mesa and Scripps Ranch high schools.

Related Links: John de Beck:If the school system is broken, fix it! | More politics

The idea is being heavily criticized, as the plan is designed to cut off most of the district’s wealthiest and best-performing schools from other areas of the district. School board Vice President Richard Barrera said he could not support an effort that would allow people to “turn their backs on low-income kids or people of color.” De Beck has said drawing kids from inner-city schools would remain a priority to ensure diversity.

The plan is just in its beginning stages, but the recent budgetary problems with both the San Diego and L.A. school districts show that having very large districts can often lead to red tape and political distractions from special interests.

“Their only excuse is economy of scale,” de Beck said. “The problem is, they’ve fallen prey to bureaucracies.”

Gina Giacopuzzi and Landon Bright write for the San Diego News Room where this story originally appeared.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 10:53 pm and is filed under Education, Local News, Politics & Government . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.