The Los Angeles Unified School District has illegally shortchanged high-needs students of millions of dollars meant for them under the state’s new school finance system, a lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges.
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But John Affeldt of Public Advocates Inc., one of three organizations that filed the suit, said that money is being spent on special education needs — not primarily to help students overcome learning challenges based on language, income or foster placement, as required by state law. He said L.A. Unified appears to be the only major school district in California counting special education funds in this way and that it has artifically inflated its current spending on needy students, lowering the additional amount that will be required.
“L.A. Unified is clearly violating the rules, and when L.A. violates rules the impact is felt in a very large way,” Affeldt said. “That’s undercutting the heart” of the law.
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In addition to San Francisco-based Public Advocates, the lawsuit was also filed by the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and the Covington & Burling law firm of San Francisco. The lawsuit asks that L.A. Unified immediately recalculate its spending and increase funding for the targeted students.
Source: Los Angeles Times
By: Teresa Watanabe
Date: July 1, 2015
Related Staff: John T. Affeldt
