L.A. Trustees Vote to Spend Lottery Funds for Buildings

Faced with both a pressing need for new schools and little prospect of getting enough state building funds, the Los Angeles school board voted Monday to set aside most of its lottery receipts for school construction.

While other school districts are using their gambling receipts to buy books, computers and musical equipment, the city school board said it is forced to use its money for either buying land or building schools.

School lottery funds have grown faster than expected, leading city school officials to believe that this money could provide a quick, partial solution to the district’s staggering need for new classrooms.

From the first quarter alone, the Los Angeles school district got $30.5 million from the state lottery. Even with an expected slow-down in gambling, board member Larry Gonzalez estimated that the district could accumulate $270 million in the next three years--enough to build 27 new elementary schools.

But doing that will require new legislation in Sacramento. The lottery initiative, approved by California voters in 1984, required 34% of the proceeds to be devoted to education but stipulated that schools could only use the money for “instructional purposes.” Spending it for capital costs was specifically forbidden.

Los Angeles board members hope two-thirds of each house of the Legislature will agree to strike out that language. Last year, such a measure passed the Assembly but fell several votes short in the Senate. Assemblywoman Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) is sponsoring a new bill seeking to make the change this year.

On Monday, the board proceeded as if the Legislature would approve the Waters bill.

“We’ve talked a lot about building schools, but we haven’t poured any foundations,” said Gonzalez, noting that school officials are several months away from starting work on a new elementary school in South Gate. Bond funds for this new public school--the first in Los Angeles since 1970--were approved by California voters in 1982.

The school district, already overcrowded, projects that its enrollment will jump by 82,000 children in the next five years. District officials have said they need as much as $850 million for new school construction.

Though the board agreed in a 7-0 vote to use the lottery money “primarily” for coping with the overcrowding problem, they did not agree Monday on what percentage would be spent for construction.

“I’ll start with 50% and negotiate upward,” said Gonzalez, who represents East Los Angeles.

Other board members noted that they would like to spend some of the money for other projects, including maintenance, but none cited specific examples.

The United Teachers of Los Angeles has urged the board to put one-third of the money into salary raises for the city’s teachers.

“Our position is that this district faces two serious shortages: a shortage in classroom seats and a shortage of qualified teachers,” said Wayne Johnson, teachers union president.

Half for Construction

Johnson said he supported Monday’s action of setting aside half or more for school construction, as long as a significant amount of the remainder is given to teachers.

While board members didn’t mention the union’s request on Monday, Gonzalez said the district will be getting “pressure in the next few months from some special interest groups” wanting a share of the lottery money.

The lottery itself, while running ahead of all projections, may finally be slowing down.

Sales receipts for the first six months of the lottery ending Monday will total just over $1.3 billion, said Bob Taylor, a spokesman for the California Lottery Commission. During the first quarter, statewide receipts hit $800 million, “which means we were a little bit under where we were,” he said.

In the first quarter, schools and colleges received $50 per enrolled student.

“I think we’ll be pretty much in the ballpark of that, but a little less for the second quarter,” said Taylor, adding that precise figures won’t be available for several weeks.