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Los Angeles Unified School District

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Template:Cde-enr-hist The Los Angeles Unified School District ( the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. As of 2005, LAUSD serves over 710,000 students.

The school district serves Los Angeles and all or portions of several adjoining California cities. The LAUSD is so large that it has its own police department. The Los Angeles School Police Department was established in 1948 to provide police services for LAUSD schools [1].

The LAUSD has a reputation for extremely overcrowded schools, poor maintenance, and incompetent administration. A significant number of the schools do not exhibit such conditions and the LAUSD has renovated some schools in recent years. LAUSD opened two high schools (Santee Educational Complex, Southeast) in 2005 and three high schools (Arleta, Panorama City, and East Valley) in 2006 [2].

A recent attempt at reform led to the creation of 11 minidistricts with decentralized management. Due to the cost of this additional bureaucracy, Superintendent Roy Romer called for merging the minidistricts to cut overhead. United Teachers Los Angeles, the union representing teachers, supported the plan to cut the number of minidistricts. In 2004, the number of minidistricts was reduced to eight. After his election to mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa advocated bringing control of the public schools under the mayor's office, a move that resulted in considerable protest from teachers, LAUSD board members, and many residents of communities served by LAUSD but not in the City of Los Angeles. No polls have been published regarding community opinions to a proposed takeover. Villaraigosa has found support in his proposal from leaders in the California State Legislature and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Every LAUSD household or residential area is zoned to an elementary school, a middle school, and a high school.

Governance

The current superintendent is former Colorado governor and Democratic Party chairman Roy Romer.

In August, 2006, California State Assembly Bill 1381 passed, giving the mayor a measure of control over district administration, including oversight of three clusters of low performing schools. The Board of Education immediately filed to block the law, claiming that it violates the state constitution by allowing a local government to take over an educational agency.

On Thursday, October 12, 2006, the Board of Education announced that David Brewer III, a former Navy Admiral who retired earlier this year, will be the next Superintendent. Brewer had been the head of the Navy's Education and Training Division and most recently was in charge of the SeaLift Command, responsible for the shipping of supplies worldwide. He will most likely begin work within the next month.

A contentious political battle between AB 1381 advocates and opponents is expected in early 2007, as four seats on the seven-member school board come up for election. Notable contenders for a voice in the district's governance include Louis Pugliese, a long-time LAUSD teacher and university lecturer in Educational Psychology, Tamar Galatzan, a criminal prosector, retired school superintendant Richard A. Vladovic, and community activist Luis Sanchez.

Current members of the Board of Education whose seats are up for election are Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte (District 1), Jon Lauritzen (District 3),David Tokofsky (District 5), and Mike Lansing (District 7), who will not seek a second term. Other members are Monica Garcia (District 2), Board President Marlene Canter (District 4), and Julie Korenstein (District 6),

LAUSD cities and unincorporated areas

Source: Los Angeles Times

All of the following communities:

and portions of the following communities:

List of schools and properties

K-12 schools

4-12 schools

Secondary schools

6-12 schools

7-12 schools

Continuation High Schools

High schools

Zoned high schools
Alternative high schools

K-8 schools

Middle schools

Elementary schools

  • 1st Elementary School
  • 2nd Street Elementary School
  • 3rd Street Elementary School
  • 4th Street Elementary School
  • 6th Avenue Elementary School
  • 7th Street Elementary School
  • 9th Street Elementary School
  • 10th Street Elementary School
  • 15th Street Elementary School
  • 20th Street Elementary School
  • 24th Street Elementary School
  • 28th Street Elementary School
  • 42nd Street Elementary School
  • 49th Street Elementary School
  • 52nd Street Elementary School
  • 54th Street Elementary School
  • 59th Street Elementary School
  • 61st Street Elementary School
  • 66th Street Elementary School
  • 68th Street Elementary School
  • 74th Street Elementary School
  • 75th Street Elementary School
  • 92nd Street Elementary School
  • 93rd Street Elementary School
  • 95th Street Elementary School
  • 96th Street Elementary School
  • 99th Street Elementary School
  • 107th Street Elementary School
  • 109th Street Elementary School
  • 112th Street Elementary School
  • 116th Street Elementary School
  • 118th Street Elementary School
  • 122nd Street Elementary School
  • 135th Street Elementary School
  • 153rd Street Elementary School
  • 156th Street Elementary School
  • 186th Street Elementary School
  • 232nd Place Elementary School
  • Albion Elementary School
  • Aldama Elementary School
  • Alexandria Elementary School
  • Allesandro Elementary School
  • Alta Loma Elementary School
  • Ambler Avenue Elementary School
  • Amestoy Elementary School
  • Anatola Avenue Elementary School
  • Andasol Elementary School
  • Angeles Mesa Elementary School
  • Ann Elementary School
  • Annalee Avenue Elementary School
  • Annandale Elementary School
  • Apperson Elementary School
  • Aragon Avenue Elementary School
  • Arlington Heights Elementary School
  • Arminta Elementary School
  • Ascot Elementary School
  • Atwater Elementary School
  • Aurora Elementary School
  • Avalon Gardens Elementary School
  • Bonita Street Elementary School
  • Broadacres Avenue Elementary School
  • Brockton Avenue Elementary School
  • Bryson Elementary School
  • Burbank Blvd. Elementary School
  • Cahuenga Elemenatry School
  • Carson Street Elementary School
  • Castelar Elementary School
  • Castle Heights Avenue Elementary School
  • Carpenter Avenue Elementary School
  • Catskill Avenue Elementary School
  • Chapman Elementary School
  • Commonwealth Elementary School
  • Corona Avenue Elementary School
  • Coeur d'Alene Avenue Elementary School
  • Sara Coughlin Elementary School (Kindergarten through 2 only, completed 2005 [14])
  • Cowan Avenue Elementary School
  • Del Amo Elementary School
  • Delevan Drive Elementary School
  • Dolores Street Elementary School
  • Dominguez Elementary School
  • Dorris Place Elementary School
  • Echo Horizon School
  • El Sereno Elementary School
  • Euclid Avenue Elementary School
  • Fair Avenue Elementary School
  • Fairburn Elementary School
  • Ford Boulevard Elementary School
  • Glen Alta Elementary School
  • Grant Elementary School
  • Harbor City Elementary School
  • Harmony Elementary School (Opened 2004 [15])
  • Harvard Elementary School (Opened 2005 [16])
  • Harding Street Elementary School
  • Hobart Elementary School
  • Hooper Elementary School (1-5)
  • Hooper Primary School (Kindergarten only, Completed 2005 [17])
  • Ivanhoe Elementary School
  • Kester Elementary School
  • Kingsley Elementary School (Opened 2005 [18])
  • Lankershim Elementary School
  • Leapwood Avenue Elementary School
  • Liggett Street Elementary School
  • Lockwood Elementary School
  • John W. Mack Elementary School (Opened 2005 [19])
  • Melvin Avenue Elementary School
  • Morningside Elementary School
  • Normont Elementary School
  • Overland Avenue Elementary School
  • Oxnard Elementary School
  • Rosa Parks Learning Center (Opened 2006 [20])
  • President Avenue Elementary School
  • Queen Anne Elementary School
  • Roscomare Road Elementary School
  • San Jose Elementary School
  • Maurice Sendak Elementary School (Opened 2005 [21])
  • Sheridan Street Elementary School
  • Sherman Oaks Elementary School
  • Shirley Avenue Elementary School
  • Towne Avenue Elementary School
  • Tweedy Elementary School (Opened 2004 [22])
  • Victoria Elementary School
  • Vintage Math/Science/Technology Magnet School
  • Wadsworth Avenue Elementary School
  • Warner Avenue Elementary School
  • Welby Way Elementary School
  • Westport Heights Elementary School
  • Westwood Charter School
  • Westminster Avenue Elementary School
  • Charles White Elementary School (opened 2004 [23])
  • Woodcrest Elementary School
  • Woodland Hills Elementary School

Properties

The LAUSD is almost certainly the largest property owner in Los Angeles. Three recent development projects have generated controversy.

Belmont Learning Center

The Belmont Learning Center, in the densely populated Westlake district just west of downtown, was originally envisioned as a mixed-use education and retail complex to include several schools, shops and a public park. After more than a decade of delays stemming from the environmental review process, ground was broken for construction in 1995. Midway through construction it was discovered that explosive methane and toxic hydrogen sulfide were seeping from an old underground oil field. Later, an active surface fault was found under one of the completed buildings, necessitating its removal. The LAUSD had spent an estimated $175 million dollars on the project by 2004, with an additional $110 million budgeted for cleanup efforts. The total cost is estimated by LAUSD at $300 million. Critics have speculated that it may end up costing closer to $500 million.

The Ambassador Hotel

Another controversial project has been the development of The Ambassador Hotel property on Wilshire Boulevard near densely populated Koreatown. The LAUSD fought over the defunct landmark with among others Donald Trump, who later walked away from it, with the legal battle dating back to 1989. In 2001, the LAUSD finally obtained legal ownership of the property. Plans to demolish the building, site where Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot, met with strong opposition from preservationists. Kennedy's family supported the demolition plans. In August 2005, LAUSD settled a lawsuit over the matter that had been filed by several preservationist groups: most of the Ambassador complex would be destroyed, but the Paul Williams-designed coffee shop and the Cocoanut Grove nightclub would be preserved, with the Grove serving as the auditorium for a new school to be built on the site. Demolition began in late 2005, and the last section of the hotel fell on January 16, 2006. The first new school on the site is scheduled to open in 2009.

Santee Dairy

In 2005, soil samples taken at the LAUSD-owned site of a former Santee Dairy facility in South Los Angeles found high levels of carcinogens in soil used as foundation fill for a high school then under construction. A small controversy brewed on the matter, with some neighborhood activists and LAUSD critics claiming a repeat of the Belmont Learning Center fiasco. State scientists determined that the contaminated soil was sufficiently deep to pose no threat to students on the site, and the now-called Santee Educational Complex opened its doors in July 2005.

Notable staff members

Teachers

  • Writer/Director Alec Cicak (Mr. Id) currently teaches English at Crenshaw High School.

Other

  • José Huizar, a politician who served as a board member for LAUSD
  • Fabian Núñez, a politician who served as the government affairs director for LAUSD

Eleanor Bralver, the oldest teacher in the United States, retired in June, 2006 at the age of 92 from Sylmar High School.

See also

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