Powerful unions have joined forces with former Los Angeles finishing superintendents. Austin Beutner will call for state intervention to end what they claim is an abuse of voter-approved investment to expand arts education in California.
In a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state officials, Beutner and the unions say some school districts are investments approved by the electorate in November 2022 to expand arts education and for other purposes. This year, the total investment amounts to $938 million.
The unions that signed the letter are the California Teachers Association, the state’s largest teachers union, and CFT, the state’s other elementary teachers union. The Los Angeles Unified School District’s largest unions are also signatories to the letter: Service Employees International Union Local 99, which represents the largest number of non-teaching staff in schools, and United Teachers Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest local teachers union. Other unions include Teamsters Local 572, which also represents Los Angeles School District staff, and the Oakland Unified Teachers Union.
“Some California school districts are intentionally violating the law through the new budget provided through Proposition 28 to update existing spending on arts instruction in schools,” the letter said.
Under the new law, the money will have to be used through schools to build arts systems and each school will be able to expand its systems in the most productive way. The provision for the arts comes from the state’s general fund: 1% of all money spent. in schools from transitional kindergarten through 12th grade. Therefore, cash is continuous and sometimes accumulates each year.
The letter does not give any explicit examples and does not mention districts suspected through unions of violating the law. Beutner said there were fears that whistleblowers might simply retaliate.
The unions and Beutner are calling on the state to require districts to certify within 30 days “that Proposition 28 has not been used to supplant existing spending on arts education in any school. “school districts to list the “additional arts and music technicians” hired through the school district in the existing school year and “how it compares” to last year.
“We say more is more,” said UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz. “That means each and every student in each and every school across the state, and you also want to translate into more educators and staff ranked in each and every school. “
Beutner drafted Proposition 28 after leaving Los Angeles Unified in June 2021 and the electorate approved the ballot measure by a roughly two-thirds margin. Students were required to take advantage of the existing school year.
The text of Proposition 28 notes that the overwhelming majority of public schools “do not offer a high-quality curriculum in all arts disciplines” and that “access to arts education is worse for very poor schools,” adding that “the cause of the steady decline in arts and music teaching is akin to insufficient and volatile investment in those programs. “
If the misuse of the Proposition 28 investment becomes widespread, “to hire approximately 15,000 more teachers and aides [statewide], the budget would be used to fund existing programs,” the letter states. “This means that millions of young people will not benefit from the arts education promised through voters. “
The letter sent to the governor Friday night, according to its authors. Neither the governor’s office nor the California Department of Education, which also won the letter, had responded to the Times earlier this week.
Although the letter doesn’t name any school districts, Myart-Cruz did call LAUSD a transgressor, one among many.
“LAUSD replaces Proposition 28,” Myart-Cruz said.
He said the union was looking to collect documentation, but that the school formula had been slow to provide the requested information.
At two recent board meetings, David Hart, the district’s advertising director, said the district is complying with legal requirements.
“I’m sure we won’t oppose the raise surcharge,” Hart told board members in reaction to a Feb. 20 question.
The budget of one Los Angeles school, Dixie Canyon Elementary School in Sherman Oaks, has been cited by proponents of Proposition 28 as an alleged misuse of funds.
At that school, the factor came up through Audrey Lieberstein, a parent administrator on the school’s PTA and boards, who provided the Times with documents about the school’s budget and copies of correspondence with LAUSD.
In his emails to district officials, Lieberstein noted that last year’s school budget included $48,766 for an arts instructor two days a week. There is no such provision in this year’s budget, according to budget documents. A supplemental budget document he claims to have received from the director shows that the art position is funded through Proposition 28 funds.
Lieberstein considers this scenario to be a violation. The Proposition 28 cash, he said, is in addition to what the school spent last year.
Dixie Canyon had 610 school students last year and a poverty rate of about 25 percent. Under the state’s investment formula, this would constitute a Proposition 28 budget of about $78,000 — in addition, presumably, to the $48,766 already earmarked for a part-time instructor at the school, as well as other previous budgets used for equipment.
Reacting to Lieberstein and the Times, LAUSD emphasized that overall investment in the arts has increased across the district, even more than Proposition 28 requires. In addition to Proposition 28, they point to an increase in arts spending in the cultural funds funded. arts sector. Passport Program, which has funded many trips in boxes and which they say could potentially be used for arts education.
Critics say, however, that boxed trips, whether arts-related or not, deserve not to be included in the new arts teaching requirements.
The letter to the state demanding interpretation situations from Los Angeles. Unified, naming a school or express district:
“At least one school district says it’s not crowding out investment in arts education because the total amount spent across the district is higher. Again, this is not a correct understanding of the law. The law obviously states that both one and both public schools get a greater investment for arts and music education. Proposition 28 allocates a certain amount of investment to education to make this possible.
Beutner reviewed Dixie Canyon correspondence at the request of The Times and said that, in its initial review, the district appears to be breaking the law at that school.
Beutner also cited examples of school districts that appear to be making use of the new arts funding, adding the Santa Monica, Compton and Bakersfield systems.
Decoding potential embezzlement can be tricky. For one, under the law, schools don’t have to spend cash this year. Valid reasons for not spending cash may simply come from the inability to hire an instructor or the desire to acquire gadgets or supplies. formation. Schools have 3 years to spend that money, but they’re not meant to stay in it just for fun, Beutner said.
In accordance with state requirements, school districts are already required to certify each year that their spending is adequate and provide more information. Schools also create a spending plan. But the state has not set express deadlines in its guidelines.
A Times review of documents provided across the state to school districts shows they lack clarity and consistency, potentially allowing for other interpretations of what is legal to do. Los Angeles Unified publishes a component of the state audit manual that discusses documenting arts spending across the district. But other state guidelines note that school districts are “required to allocate budget to eligible school sites in amounts calculated through the California Education Breakdown,” according to Proposition 28.
The critics’ letter necessarily aims to strengthen and accelerate the system of state accountability.
Beutner said it’s vital not to wait, as it will be difficult to spend student money that has already been squandered.
Lieberstein told school officials he needs students to take full advantage of artistic input.
“I’m just trying to get a feel for the law and how it’s implemented for all of our children,” Lieberstein wrote in a Feb. 17 email to the district. “If there was an error in attribution or interpretation, then perhaps schools have a chance to recoup their original source of arts investment and have the Proposition in the most sensible part of that. 28 as provided by law. This would be a huge win for our public schools and the attendance building would be accepted as true in the district!
If you have any consideration of how your school or school district is meeting the Proposition 28 budget or similar guidance or topical materials, please contact howard. blume@latimes. com.
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