Despite dwindling enrollment numbers, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) continues to erect new schools, reports today's Los Angeles Times. This is hardly a new issue--there's long been articles and outrage about declining school enrollment/continued school building--so what's the Los Angeles Times' angle? Mostly about their own research: "By the time the building program is completed in 2012, there will be tens of thousands of empty seats at dozens of once-crowded schools, a Times analysis shows." Overcrowded schools were a dire issue a decade ago, and while voter-authorized bonds set aside more than $20 billion for new schools, factors like housing prices--which have pushed out immigrants and brought in more childless singles and couples--have led to a decline in the number of students. While the LAUSD canceled 19 projects last year because of budget problems, they continue to build: "....in some cases because the projects are too far along. Also, the district, running up against state deadlines for matching funds, is primed to avoid delays." Meanwhile, why not do something useful for the community with that extra space in the schools? [Shot of proposed new Echo Park campus]
· L.A. Unified will have more seats, but fewer students to fill them [LA Times]
· With Fewer Seats To Fill, LAUSD To Build Fewer Schools [Curbed LA]
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