LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Parents, students and teachers rallied outside several Los Angeles Unified School District campuses Tuesday, then took their case to district headquarters downtown, to oppose a plan that would cut $10 million a year in supplemental funding from 42 LAUSD-affiliated charter schools.
Organizers say the reduction would hit roughly 25,000 students. The cut is written into the fiscal stabilization plan the school board approved as the district prepares for a shortfall projected at $3.6 billion across the coming two years. It would begin in the 2027-28 school year, and the plan lists a second $10 million reduction for 2028-29. District budget documents link the first reduction to roughly 112 full-time jobs spread over the affected campuses.
At Sherman Oaks’ Riverside Drive Charter School, parents say the loss would be especially sharp. They estimate the school would give up close to $500,000 and at least a dozen jobs, and organizers put the damage at more than 88 percent of the school’s site budget. Those figures are estimates from the school community rather than district numbers. One Riverside Drive parent said the school receives about $206,000 from the block grant and that affiliated charters value the added flexibility to decide what works best for their own campuses. Parents also raised safety worries, asking who would supervise recess and help during fire, earthquake or lockdown drills if yard staff are cut, and others said children with special needs depend on the support the money pays for.
The district defended the change in a statement. It cited declining enrollment, rising operating costs and the end of one-time COVID-19 relief money as the drivers of the deficit. The supplemental grant, the district said, went only to charter schools that opened before the 2012-13 fiscal year and was paid from central district funds after the state’s charter block grant program ended in 2013. Because other affiliated charters and traditional campuses never received it, the district said, ending it brings more consistency to how money is spread across Los Angeles Unified. The statement also acknowledged that the decision may land differently on individual schools and that families have voiced concerns about staffing, services and programs.
Demonstrators carried signs urging the board not to cut funding for children, and many of them stayed for public comment at the afternoon board meeting. The district had announced no changes to its charter school plans as of Tuesday, though the board the same day was considering an amendment to the stabilization plan aimed at other reductions, including cuts to equity and Black student achievement programs. Protesters say they will keep pressing for a revision.