The Los Angeles Unified School District is staring at financial collapse.
asserted
District → star → collapse
Its elected school board approved massive union contracts it couldn’t afford.
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it → elect → contracts
In the summer of 2020, Black Lives Matter and other activists demanded that government agencies defund the police.
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agencies → demand → police
LAUSD’s board obliged.
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board → oblige → ?
On June 30, Kelly Gonez joined three other board members in voting to slash $25 million from school police.
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Gonez → join → police
George McKenna, Scott Schmerelson and Richard Vladovic opposed the cuts.
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McKenna → oppose → cuts
Seven months later, the board approved eliminating 133 positions, including 70 sworn officers, and directing that money into a $36.5 million Black Student Achievement Plan.
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board → approve → Plan
The plan included counselors, social workers and something LAUSD called “climate coaches,” tasked with addressing student behavior, conflict resolution and racial disparities in discipline.
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LAUSD → include → discipline
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Gonez defended the investment in the name of “equity.”
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Gonez → download → equity
She also successfully amended the policy to prevent individual schools from requesting permanently stationed police officers.
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She → amend → officers
School police supervisors warned that the cuts would compromise student safety and expose the district to potential liability.
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cuts → warn → liability
The board was warned about the risks before it made the cuts.
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it → warn → cuts
It chose to proceed anyway, replacing permanently stationed officers with a system in which police patrol groups of schools.
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police → choose → schools
On Sept. 30, Franklin High School senior Xavier Nungaray-Martinez, 17, fell to his death from a fourth-floor balcony after another student struck him during a classroom confrontation.
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student → fall → confrontation
The medical examiner ruled his death a suicide.
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death → rule → ?
His family disputes that finding and believes bullying contributed.
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bullying → dispute → finding
Police have not established that connection.
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Police → establish → connection
His family wants better security and campus police restored.
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security → want → ?
The district’s own numbers give parents plenty of reason to worry.
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numbers → give → reason
Students reporting physical bullying jumped from 6% to 15% in one year.
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Students → report → year
Overall, 17% reported being bullied.
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% → report → ?
Those numbers should have the school board’s attention.
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numbers → have → attention
With LAUSD facing a financial crisis, Gonez introduced a budget amendment restoring $50 million in planned reductions to the same Black Student Achievement Plan.
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Gonez → face → Plan
Her alternative savings included another $3.5 million in school police cuts this year and $7 million next year.
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savings → include → cuts
The amendment passed unanimously.
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amendment → pass → ?
We’ll see what happens as those cuts are implemented.
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cuts → see → ?
Gonez proposed those cuts months before Xavier’s death.
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Gonez → propose → death
Yet in June, all seven board members approved labor agreements adding approximately $1.13 billion in costs for 2026-27, rising to $1.44 billion the following year.
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members → approve → billion
County officials faulted the district’s handling of those agreements and projected a $231 million cash shortfall in November 2027.
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officials → fault → November
The county’s criticism went directly to the district’s handling of collective bargaining, even as the board looked to school police for additional savings.
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board → go → savings
School police, meanwhile, are represented separately.
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police → represent → ?
The board approved expensive labor agreements while identifying school police as another place to cut.
LAUSD now faces possible outside financial intervention, with more than 6,000 positions potentially on the chopping block.
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LAUSD → approve → block
The county conditionally approved its budget, and state fiscal experts warn that time is running out.
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time → approve → budget
Yet more school police cuts remain part of the board’s financial strategy.
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cuts → remain → strategy
Parents deserve evidence that the district’s approach protects their children.
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approach → deserve → children
That means examining response times, campus violence, the effectiveness of alternative safety programs and the consequences of removing permanently stationed officers.
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That → mean → officers
School board members can debate budgets, defend their political priorities and congratulate themselves on what they call “equity.”
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they → debate → what
But parents send their children to school expecting them to be safe, not to become casualties of somebody else’s political agenda.
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them → send → agenda
The real victims of LAUSD’s failures aren’t the politicians facing uncomfortable questions or the unions fighting over district dollars.
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victims → face → dollars
They’re the children who have no say in these decisions but must live with their consequences.
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who → ’re → consequences
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
