Polanco Goes to Bat for School Funds

State Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles) vowed Wednesday to counter a move to raid urban school districts’ desegregation funds with an aggressive lobbying effort involving educators, parents and union representatives.

“We’re going to put together a full court press like they’ve not seen before,” Polanco said. “This is a wrong move and a move against kids.”

The state Assembly, where Republicans hold a majority, has proposed a budget for next year that would redistribute to schools across the state $250 million that urban districts now use to promote racial integration and reduce the educational impact of segregation.

A competing budget proposal offered by the state Senate, where Democrats have a majority, does not include such a plan.

On Wednesday, Polanco appealed to a six-member legislative panel to erase the proposal. The panel, made up of three senators and three Assembly members, is sorting out differences between the two budgets.

Under the Assembly plan, the Los Angeles Unified School District would lose $118 million of the $340 million in state funds it spends to bus students from overcrowded campuses, reduce class sizes, operate magnet schools and staff other educational programs.

“If the Assembly version is adopted, the state . . . will place itself in direct conflict with the courts,” said Polanco, referring to the fact that the money in question pays for programs resulting from the settlement of desegregation lawsuits.

Polanco also met Wednesday with representatives of Los Angeles Unified and 14 other school districts that would lose money and urged them to lobby their legislators directly and get parents involved.

The Los Angeles district has held several meetings to alert parents to the possibility that 132 magnet schools and programs offering specialized instruction as part of the district’s desegregation effort could be hurt by the Assembly proposal. About $20 million is spent directly on those programs but millions more is used for transportation to allow students from throughout the vast district to attend the magnet centers.