Lawsuit claims LAUSD misused tens of millions intended for arts education

By Zakir Jamal

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    2/12/25 (LAPost.com) — In 2022, California voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 28, intended to expand funding for the arts in public schools. Yet according to the claims of a lawsuit, the Los Angeles Unified School District kept much of that money from ever reaching its intended recipients.

Under the terms of the measure, the state was required to increase funds available for music and art education programs by 1% of the minimum overall funding required by state law. For LAUSD, that meant a $77 million increase. The money was redirected to school districts from California’s General Fund.

The lawsuit was filed by former LAUSD superintendent Austin Beutner and eight students. It alleges that the district used the money allotted by the measure in order to pay existing costs, and redirected funding streams that were already in place to other areas. As a result, the suit claims, funding levels remained constant at many schools.

According to a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom signed by Beutner and the heads of six educational unions, “ some school districts in California are willfully violating the law by using the new funds provided by Prop 28 to replace existing spending for arts education at schools.”

“The practical effect of this will be to significantly reduce the additional, annual investment of approximately $1 billion for arts education approved by voters. Instead of hiring about 15,000 additional teachers and aides, the funds would instead be used to pay for existing programs. This means millions of children will miss out on the arts education voters promised them,” the letter continued.

The letter was signed by the California Teachers Association, the California Federation of Teachers, Service Employees International Union Local 99, United Teachers L.A., Teamsters Local 572, and the Oakland Education Association.

Beutner, the author of Prop. 28, included provisions in the bill’s text to prevent schools from using it to pay for existing programs. 80% of the funds received were to be used to employ teachers. The other 20% was to go to training and supply costs.

David Hart, Chief Business Officer of LAUSD, told board members at a Feb. 20 meeting that the district is in compliance with its requirements under Prop. 28. “I feel very confident that we are not, in any way, stepping afoul of the intended supplement versus supplant [requirement],” he said.

Schools are not required to spend the money immediately. Delays, including the inability to find a qualified teacher, may delay the use of funds. According to LAUSD, the level of arts funding in the district is higher now than it was before the passage of Prop. 28. However, other measures have been put in place to expand the budget for arts education during that time.

Despite this, the letter urges the district to act immediately. “The current school year is the first full year of Prop 28,” it says. “If schools do not properly implement the law now, a pattern of violation will be established, and the consequences will be long-lasting and severe.”

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