Los Angeles Unified Authority says state laws that require the employment of art teachers – state laws that require the employment of art teachers – misuse millions of people with state funds, and students across the school system, according to a lawsuit filed Monday. He repeatedly violated his refusal to art guidance promised to.
The LA Superior Court case was brought by former LA Schools Supt. Plaintiff Austin Beatner, along with eight students, is represented by their parents. Three school district unions announced their approval of the lawsuit on Monday.
On Monday evening, a spokesman for LA Unification said the district had no lawsuits provided.
“That being said, we have tried to clarify the misconceptions regarding Prop. 28. We will ensure that we are fully compliant with the requirements of Prop. 28 in accordance with the implementation guidance provided by the State of California. We will continue,” the district said. statement.
Previous public comments stated that district officials have used Proposition 28 money and other sources of funding appropriately to increase overall arts-related spending beyond the amount needed for voter-approved measures. It’s there.
The lawsuit alleges that LA Unified provided the state with false certification that Proposition 28’s arts funding was being used appropriately and that “LAUSD fraudulent California and its taxpayers.”
Proposition 28 was approved in November 2022 by nearly two-thirds of voters. It calls for a portion of the California General Fund, which is equivalent to 1% of the lowest state funding level for K-12 schools and community colleges, to be added to education. Funding to expand instruction in visual and performing arts.
This reached $938 million statewide last year, and around $77 million for LA Unified.
From the start, Beutner, who wrote and funded the proposal, was concerned that some school systems would use new arts money to pay for existing arts programs. Therefore, the law prohibits maintaining old funding levels with new money.
Furthermore, Proposal 28 states that arts funds generated by student registration must go to the school where those students are registered. School leadership, such as principals and school boards, also governs the use of dollars.
“LAUSD did exactly what the law prohibits,” the lawsuit alleges. “We removed existing sources of funds for existing art teachers and replaced those funds with funds from Prop. 28, thereby violating the requirement that the funds supplement rather than replacing existing sources. ”
The lawsuit lists 37 primary schools where the money for arts instruction was the same or reduced from 2022-23 to 2023-24, with most LA Unified Schools having similar funding status They claim to be facing the
“Showed historical opportunities” for “meaningful expansion” of art education, and “Lausd wasted opportunities and violated the law. As a result, according to the lawsuit, hundreds of thousands of students is harmed.
La Unified is a Prop. Describes the use of 28 funds
In June, district officials said they had an Primary School Arts Budget for the 2024-25 grade, amid continuing accusations from unified Beutner, union leaders and parents that the district is violating the law. quietly added $30 million to the They seemed to have changed in primary schools in 2023-24, despite the new dollar flow, when 28 funds became available, the first year of primary school. I was worried about this.
supt. Alberto Carvalho and Vice Saputo. Pedro Salcido said at a school board meeting in June that adding $30 million to primary school funding for this school year was not a fraudulent entry.
“We have decided to create this additional fund, considering the extent of the confusion and ultimately believe in the interests of arts education,” Carvalho said during the meeting. “In spite of the legal letters, we decided to rely on intentions, not just on letters. How do people perceive that? And we are paying the price. So… $30 million goes beyond fully complying with the letter of law and is more leaning towards what we believe is an individual understanding of the school.”
Salcido added:
In interviews, social media and public meetings, critics continued to denounce the district. They also argue that the arts guidance added for the current academic year remains quite ineffective of what was required in Prop. 28, an allegation also made in the suit.
The district has rejected more than a year in an era of revealing relevant budget documents to parents and clarifying how money was processed for arts instruction.
Board member Scott Schmerelson has since become the board president, but has aired some of his concerns at the public meeting. Carvalho dealt with it in part in an internal memo on August 15th.
In that memo cited in the lawsuit, the LA Unified Authority educated that it used new art money to replace existing funds of 167 of the 227 primary art instructors from 2023-24. I have confirmed it to the committee. .
Meanwhile, the money used in art was redirected for other purposes not mentioned in the memo.
“Given the historical staffing challenges in the role of filling arts educators… the district has prioritized using Prop. 28 funds and hiring new staff to cover existing staff.” The memo states.
District officials said in the memo that their actions were legal as overall spending on the arts increased by more than what was provided by Proposition 28.
In response to a question from the Times, the State Education Department agreed to LA unification on this point. This will be measured at the district level rather than at the school level to determine compliance with Prop. 28 Rules.
All district high school honorary band march at LAUSD 136th Rose parade.
(Ringo chiu / for the the the the alls
LA Unified supported claims of increased arts spending, citing increased field trip spending, mostly funded through another source.
With this various source of funding added, the district added to the memo that the arts staff increased to full-time equivalent positions of 273-520 from 2022-23-2023-24, with arts-related spending of 7,470. It states that it has increased from $206.2 million. Same time.
These numbers are difficult to evaluate due to internal contradictions and incomplete information.
As an example, the August memo said there were five high school art teachers from 2022-23. The following year, Prop. 28 and other funding increased that number to 126, the memo said. The school system has 86 high schools.
But in a written response to questions from the Times, the district said there were 918 high school art teachers, rather than five, between 2022 and 23.
Prop. To further justify the 28 funding shift, a district spokesman said in a written response to a question from the Times that LA Unified relies on the California Department of Education’s audit guide.
The lawsuit argues that the audit instructions do not outweigh all other factors. “This does not grant the defendant the right to violate all other parts of the plain language requirements of the statute,” the lawsuit alleges.
The state will not investigate
National education officer. Public leader Tony Thurmond advised the district to avoid allies in the conflict and consult with his attorney when necessary.
Still, “using arts funds for field trips that are not related to art is unlikely to be a proper use of the funds,” said department spokesman Elizabeth Sanders.
Sanders added: “Prop. Regarding the use of 28 funds, we have no idea in any way whether LAUSD operates within the audit guidelines.”
Students at John Marshall High School will be appearing at a district event held at Walt Disney Concert Hall in 2019.
(Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
Field trips are held under a program called Cultural Arts Passport or Cap. According to lawsuits and unified records from the internal LA, field trips were clearly tallied as art expenditures, including travel to amusement parks, professional sporting events, game shows, zoos, recreational areas, and indoor skydiving.
These cap field trips are paid from another national funding source, a state-funded extended learning opportunity program. The school district has been confirmed in the times.
“Defendant Carvalho attempted to conceal CAP repeatedly, by mistake in including CAP funds in the calculation of funds spent on arts education,” the lawsuit alleges.
At a June meeting, Chief Academic Officer Francis Baez defended the classification of all field trips as arts guidance, in part saying, “art lives everywhere.”
Proposal 28 states that 80% of funds must spend additional time paying and benefits for either the new arts teacher or the arts teacher. The remaining 20% is to pay the costs associated with this instruction.
Field trips can be categorized as 20%, but 20% should also cover needs such as art supplies, musical instruments, and art teacher training.
Lots of money is at risk
The union approving the case is United Teacher Los Angeles, a local 99 of service employees representing most non-teaching workers, and Teamsters Local 572, representing drivers, plant managers, cafeteria managers and other workers. UTLA or Local 99 represents the majority of new arts instructors hired.
UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz emphasized the importance of respecting the benefits of art education and the intent of the law.
“We’re frustrated and angry about this kind of shell game playing with voter money. We’re also playing with our babies, babies in this district. School,” she said. Art Cruise said.
Highland Park parent Vicki Martinez, plaintiff in the suit, filed by her and her when she did not see an identifiable increase in art education at the school where the three children attend. When there was no satisfactory answer from the questions that were asked, she said she had campaigned aggressively for Prop 28, but was irritated. Other parents.
When she was attending public school, “I praised having art. I was able to take dance,” Martinez said. The arts fascinated the school and said, “I knew I had to be in school and I had to do good things in school if I wanted to continue doing these things.”
“So when my kids went to the same school I attended, if I had it, they needed to have it. And behold, it wasn’t. “I did,” Martinez said. “So, after passing Proposal 28, we were really surprised that we didn’t see any improvements in the arts on the whole. It’s very important to me and very important to the kids in my community. is.”
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