FALLING ENROLLMENT THREATENS LAUSD BUDGET: "The growth in charter enrollment, however, does not help the district's financial picture since the alternative schools are funded independently of LAUSD" – but 'Public School Choice' offers up 36 more this year!

EDUCATION: District sees student numbers shrink 10 percent since 2002

By Connie Llanos, Staff Writer LA Daily News (Online from the Contra Costa Times)

Posted: 11/03/2009 08:31:53 PM PST | Updated: 11/03/2009 08:33:33 PM PST

11/4 - Enrollment in the Los Angeles Unified School District has fallen to less than 680,000 students this year, nearly a 10 percent decline since its peak seven years ago, officials said Tuesday.

Enrollment at the district hit a high of more than 747,000 students in 2002, but that number has fallen steadily ever since.

District officials were not immediately available to explain general reasons for the decline, but they did say fewer students mean less money for the district overall, which could lead to further budget cuts and layoffs.

The district would have lost even more students had independent charter schools, which are publicly funded but free of most state and district mandates, not seen their enrollment grow by nearly 19 percent.

Enrollment in independent charter schools within the district's boundaries are included in the district's overall numbers.

This fall, 9,556 LAUSD students transferred from a district campus to a charter - bringing the district's charter school enrollment to nearly 57,000.

Total LAUSD enrollment fell to 678,584 for the 2009-10 school year, down from 688,138 in 2008-09 - a 1.4 percent decline.

The growth in charter enrollment, however, does not help the district's financial picture since the alternative schools are funded independently of LAUSD and do not hire district staff. While no teachers are expected to lose their jobs this year, hundreds were forced to move to new schools to fill vacancies caused by attrition and reorganization.

"If we have fewer students ... then we need fewer staff," said Vivian Ekchian, LAUSD's head of human resources.

"We are hoping we can work with our labor partners on ways to mitigate layoffs, but if the fiscal situation remains as it is, or worsens, there will be plans for additional reductions in force."

A.J. Duffy, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, said the latest district enrollment figures only confirm the need for district officials to cut central office positions.

"We are always going to ask that the district cut away from the school sites because that is what's best for kids," Duffy said.

"We have been asking for years that the local district offices be cut ... now is the time."

The local increase in charter school enrollment is consistent with statewide growth trends. This fall saw the largest single-year gain in charter school enrollment in California, charter school officials said. Now, more than 809 charter schools are serving more than 341,000 students in the state.

"Parents and educators are looking to charters, more and more as mainstream options so we are seeing the pace of enrollment growth accelerate," said Jed Wallace, president of California Charter Schools Association.

"Of course, in Los Angeles we also have some of the highest-achieving, most respected charters in the country, which also affects the increase in enrollment."

The growth could even intensify in Los Angeles as LAUSD gets ready to launch its deep reform plan that will allow nonprofits and charters to bid to operate district schools.