School District Funding Requires Local Control

Having taught for 13 years in three California school districts, I have to agree with California Education Secretary Richard Riordan’s plan to bypass the school districts and give state money directly to schools so that students, teachers and administrators can get the materials they need (Feb. 1). For example, the LAUSD breaks our budget into so many different funds, each with so many restrictions, that the money is almost useless. We cannot buy the things we need, when we need them, and are forced to waste tens of thousands of dollars on items for which we have little use.

As a department chair I often hear from vendors that I cannot buy their products because the LAUSD owes them thousands of dollars for past orders. The district has the money, but the layer of bureaucracy and incompetence is so thick that it just can’t get through. Local control with accountability is the way to go.

Keith Abouaf

Los Angeles