Letter to Employees from Superintendent John Deasy

Dear LAUSD family,

We applaud the Governor for presenting a sustainable compromise in his “May Revise” where he includes the State’s recent increase in revenues in his projections for 2011-12.  Governor Brown is honoring the State’s commitment to Prop. 98 by doing away with some of the games and gimmicks of borrowing from schools to pay the state’s bills. Our children cannot and never could afford to pay the State’s wall of debt.

The May Revise gives us some light at the dark end of the funding tunnel. We are basically getting what was promised to us as an IOU in the past. However, the overall budget picture is still bleak and uncertain. We will continue to look to our labor partners to help save as many jobs as possible.

 We also urge the Legislature to pass this budget as soon as possible so our schools can operate with greater stability.  This May Revise is dependent on the voters agreeing to protect education in a November general election. If that budget proposition fails, the Governor estimates that the funding problem will grow twice as bad as it is now for 2011-12.  Nothing is more important than providing our schools with sustainable funding because the 2012-13 deficit looks even worse. 

Our district has been fortunate to utilize millions of dollars for our neediest schools through the Quality Education Investment Act grant. Last week, the Republicans proposed to suspend QEIA as a way to help balance the State’s budget. We ask where is the educational justification for cutting funding at the highest achieving schools by $16 per student and simultaneously slashing funding by nearly tenfold to the lowest-performing schools by $157 per student? QEIA is an investment, not a door prize for the lucky few.

Our bottom line is that we need to continue to find ways to save every job possible with the help of our labor partners. Today’s news gives us some hope and we will work day and night to find ways to create sustainable solutions so our teachers and other employees can keep preparing our students for success.

Sincerely,

Dr. John E. Deasy