Bridging the Budget Gap and Accelerating Student Learning in Los Angeles Unified (LAUSD)

Like many large urban school systems, LAUSD faces an uncertain financial future. Declining enrollment, the rising cost of benefits, a slowdown in state funding growth, and increased pension liabilities will sharply constrain LAUSD’s finances. It is more important than ever for district leadership to allocate resources as strategically as possible to support LAUSD teachers and students in reaching high academic standards.

At the request of the LA Unified Advisory Task Force, ERS worked with the Task Force to establish a fact base that explores budget, workforce, and resource equity realities to inform long-term planning in the largest school system in California.

The ERS Resource Map for LAUSD: Opportunities to Improve Resource Allocation to Accelerate Student Learning, summarizes the analysis and presents a series of options to mitigate the budget deficit and reallocate funding in ways designed to improve teaching and learning. ERS previously worked with the Advisory Task Force to analyze absenteeism in the district and present recommendations for action.