LAUSD Considers Another Parcel Tax Proposal

It’s a case of deja vu all over again, but Superintendent John Deasy hit the airwaves yesterday proposing another parcel tax to increase funding for LAUSD schools.

The $200-300 per year parcel tax is targeted for the November election–after the 2012-13 school year begins.  So the district has to make the draconian cuts and then hope it passes, to restore the money, or keep spending and if it doesn’t pass, admit they guessed wrong.  Again.

The good news kept coming this morning with the LA Times article about Governor Brown’s suggested tax increases that are off by $2 billion (that’s $2,000,000,000), and the possibility that even with the half-cent tax increase and the income tax increase, there’ll likely be more school cuts.  How can any one trust any of the information coming out if the projections are this out of whack?

If the individual schools requested the money, and parents could direct where they want the funds to go, it might have half a chance.  Actually, many schools already have donation drives to buy the barest of essentials.  Non-Title I schools notoriously request a similar amount from each family at the beginning of the school year simply to buy paper, or fund field trips, or buy positions that the district no longer funds.  If the parcel tax goes into the black hole known as LAUSD’s general coffers, it will never pass.  Few people actually understand the bonds for construction are restricted for building new schools, so it’s highly unlikely that any plea will convince voters of the school’s plight.