EdSource reports that State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has given Los Angeles Unified a one-year reprieve from a ruling requiring the district to spend potentially hundreds of millions of additional dollars on English learners and low-income children to comply with the state’s new school funding law.
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Torlakson in his letter indicated the district might be able to “significantly” reduce the amount of unfunded obligation if it could document special education expenses and other spending that met the funding law’s requirements. John Affeldt, managing attorney for Public Advocates, acknowledged that some things the district is currently doing could be counted as serving targeted kids, and the district could also redirect existing programs and services to principally benefit them. But he said the district will still have to provide more resources for these students.
