Nine of Los Angeles’ neediest schools were awarded grants that could amount to more than $45 million over the next three years, after the State Department of Education overturned its initial decision to deny the schools money. 

Each school will receive up to $5.5 million in School Improvement Grants, a federal funding program that aims to help improve low-performing schools. Five of the nine schools the state is recommending for grants are part of the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, a collaboration between the Los Angeles Unified School District and the City of Los Angeles. 

Initially, the L.A. schools’ grant application was denied because the district did not follow proper procedures. State officials said the district had not included enough needy schools on its application, and the State Board of Education, which votes on the allocation of the grants, disqualified all L.A. schools.

Officials from LAUSD and the city immediately responded and began lobbying on behalf of the schools. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and LAUSD officials travelled to Sacramento to protest the decision, arguing that the rules were unclear. Ultimately, the board reconsidered.

“It was one of those situations where a certain bureaucratic requirement wasn’t met that they weren’t going to fund anyone in Los Angeles,” said Patrick Sinclair, a spokesman for the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools. “Ultimately it made sense so they revisited it and said okay we’re going to be a little more rational here.”

Members of the Board of Education acknowledged that the situation was “a mess,” in part because the federal government had instructed the state to save $100 million for next year. Once that provision was lifted, the board was able to give grants to several districts that felt they had been unfairly left out. 

The L.A. schools that will receive the money were chosen by the district because they are very low performing and are in some of the most impoverished areas of the city. 

“These schools are challenged on many different levels, from socioeconomic and as well as academic levels,” Sinclair said.

The schools plan to use the money for increasing classroom time and improving the technology used in the classrooms, among other things.

 

Reach reporter Grace Wong here.