A lawsuit that alleges Los Angeles Unified School District misappropriated millions of dollars in education funds that should have been spent on arts and music programs has prompted a state lawmaker to call for an audit of the school district.
LAUSD students, parents and the author of 2022’s Proposition 28, Austin Beutner, filed the lawsuit in February in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The complaint, which argues that the school district illegally used tens of millions of dollars in additional arts education funds to supplant existing arts programs rather than expand them, has prompted Assemblyman Isaac Bryan (D-Los Angeles) to urge the state auditor to investigate whether the district’s budgetary policies defrauded taxpayers.
Proposition 28’s provisions require the state to allocate a proportion of money originating from the state’s general fund to school arts and music programs to augment such instruction.
“By law, every LAUSD school should be receiving the benefit of tens of millions of dollars in funding specially allocated to supplement students’ arts education by hiring teachers to provide arts instruction in schools,” the lawsuit states. “LAUSD is openly misappropriating those funds, depriving the racially and socio-economically diverse students of Los Angeles of the arts education to which they are entitled.”
Proposition 28 resulted in the school district receiving $76.7 million in fiscal year 2023-2024 for arts instruction, according to the lawsuit. And at least 80% of the funds were supposed to be used to hire teachers or other employees to expand arts programs, the complaint says.
“LAUSD has done exactly what the law prohibits: It has eliminated existing funding sources for existing art teachers and replaced those funds with Proposition 28 funds, thereby violating the requirement that the funds supplement rather than supplant existing sources,” the lawsuit states.
Jeff Chemerinsky, the plaintiffs’ attorney, indicated in a recent letter to LAUSD’s general counsel that the district’s action served to defraud the state and taxpayers.
“The complaint details LAUSD’s repeated violations of Prop. 28’s requirements to hire teachers to increase art and music education at schools, how LAUSD provided false and misleading information to the California Department of Education and the public to cover up its misuse of Prop. 28 funds, and how LAUSD’s unlawful actions have violated the civil rights of black and Latino students,” Chemerinsky said.
A Los Angeles Unified spokesperson said the district could not comment on pending litigation or the likelihood of a settlement in the case.
“However, we'd like to reiterate that Los Angeles Unified recognizes the profound importance of the arts and prioritizes art experiences, programming and investments,” the spokesperson told the Southern California Record in an email. “We are committed to providing arts exposure for every student throughout the district.”
An LAUSD report for fiscal year 2023-2024 states that Proposition 28 provided about $77 million for investments in arts education in the district.
“Los Angeles Unified increased its total arts budget to $206 million in the 2023-24 school year, compared to $74 million spent in 2022-23,” the report states.
The lawsuit seeks a court declaration that the district violated the law by using Proposition 28 funds to supplant existing arts program funds, a permanent injunction to stop LAUSD from engaging in the specified budget practices and an award of court costs and attorney fees.