LAUSD Defends Big Spending as “Modernizing”

Los Angeles Unified School District officials were brought in front of Senate and Assembly committees to discuss new construction, renovation and expenses.

Officials from the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) appeared before a joint hearing of the Senate and Assembly education committees, and what was most alarming was the massive spending on new school construction and renovations, writes Katy Grimes at the Cal Watchdog.

Mark Hovatter, in charge of contracts for LAUSD facilities department, presented a report prepared by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation:

“Founded in 1981, the LAEDC was created by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to implement LA County’s economic development program through land development, project financing and marketing activities,” the LAEDC website states.

Hovatter believes that, through acquiring land and building new schools, LAUSD has been “modernizing” since the late 1990s. And Hovatter appeared proud to report that 132 new schools have been built by the district.

“I get invited to speak a lot. It’s something we are very proud of,” he said.

Hovatter boasted that 331,000 jobs were created over a 15-year period that cost $19 billion in construction and improvements for the LAUSD.

“There are 24,000 modernization projects right now,” he added. “But we still need modernization projects. It’s exciting to see a new school and drive through a transformed neighborhood.”

Lance Izumi, Koret Senior Fellow and senior director of education studies at the Pacific Research Institute, CalWatchdog’s parent think tank, was critical of the LAUSD spending in light of declining enrollment and California’s bleak economic crisis.

Izumi said the LAUSD’s wasteful spending on construction projects included the $578 million Robert F. Kennedy High School, “the most expensive government-run school in this nation’s history.”

LAUSD voluntarily increased costs by agreeing to employ only union labor through Project Labor Agreements, despite evidence from throughout California that such agreements contribute to higher construction costs, writes Grimes.

LAUSD has 885 schools, 668,000 students, 37,000 teachers and 40,000 “other” personnel, such as counselors, nurses, janitors and administrative staff.

The school district is the second largest school district in the nation and covers most of Los Angeles County’s 31 cities, and more than 700 square miles.

RFK High School costs did not come under question, or the $337 million Edward Roybal Learning Center or the $232 million Visual and Performing Arts High School. This comes to $1.2 billion in new construction for the LAUSD.

Comments

Victor Gonzalez

November 22, 2011 at 4:54 pm

These schools were and are needed in some of the most impacted urban areas in the country. While there is dropping enrollment district wide, inner city areas continued to be overcrowded. Inner city families put up with bussing students for decades and are only able to send their children to schools in their own communities; and yes that include RFK. The poor and children of color, as all children, are entitled to a good school facility. The funds were approved by voters and could only be used for such projects. To criticize the school district for finally giving these families a decent is provincial and myopic.

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Rene Diedrich

December 31, 2011 at 3:48 pm

There are reasons to criticize the choices the district made for these new schools, many of them unnessary concession to EducRAT$ egos and personal interests. RFK was designed with all the prudence Candy Spelling had when decorating her obscenely opulent mansion. Talking benches, imported fabrics, gold paint and carpets that cost an awful lot to be stained and clotted with gum because kids will be kids and adults don’t know better? Then there’s the architectural indulgence of Ramon Cortenies HS for the Arts. Opulent and indulgent, the school is already at odds with transit principals and the boards’ fascist dictates. The community and students were not given any say in the school’s name despite promises to the contrary. Lies. Lies. Lies. Thats what they got.
Ramon Cortines was honored by Monica Garcia and the LA Times for his dubious and expensive years of service despite conflicts of interest, wanton failure, a budget crisis, his complicity in the Broad/ Deasy take over, millions of missing dollars, years of discrimination against poor students of color, dismal statistics, the bullying and violation of privacy he and LAT enjoyed at the expense of 5th grade teachers in 2010 , instigating the suicide of one fine educator and his slash and burn indifference to the arts. After cutting 40 % of the music programs in LA schools, he gets a school dedicated to the arts named after him? The satire is writing itself.
For the money that campus cost, renovations to district 8 HS s could have been extensive, making these crumbling sites safer, saner and more appealing for students. There would be more than enough money for a new school the same size as the archetectual designe tribute to unchecked white chalk crime he built knowing he’d have his name on that marquee sooner than later. The school would be modest by comparison but just as useful and no less appreciated by that areas paretnts and students. I am sure suits at LAUSD see these costly schools as a source of pride but that is troubling because what we need to take pride in is the success of students, innovations in instruction and efficient operations. Too bad these were thrown over for vanity’s sake. I wonder how many parents would have voted on building these schools if they had been included in the discourse about how their tax dollars were spent and what was the best way to serve our community’s children. Sure, they may have voted for building new schools but I am sure none were aware of how the funds would be spent.
With all due respect, Victor Gonzales your rhetoric is profoundly flawed. You are myopic and out of touch with reality as we know it in the trenches
What do say about the horrors unfolding at Belmont HS? Are you proud of that too? Do we have to wait and see how much brain damage students and staff have before we admit that building yet another school on a site emitting toxic gas is a bad idea, maybe even murder?
Signed –
A teacher, a parent, a taxpayer, a whistleblower and an advocate for public education who will not rest until LAUSD answers for its crimes against the children and community.

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