LAUSD’s Found Money: Too Much, Too Late

Re “L.A. District Finds Extra $228 Million on the Books,” Aug. 10: Gee! The Los Angeles Unified School District has found extra money. Only after putting teachers, support staff, school administrators and the union through hell. And Joe Zeronian, the chief financial officer, didn’t have any idea why there was such a discrepancy? Why does this man have this job?

How convenient for the school board and district. Now they have the whole fiscal year to hide the money. I hope they don’t use it to pay for the balances on their renovation and redecorating costs.

Beth Makowski

Teacher

Venice High School

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I see the LAUSD circus is back in town. The downtown elephants are now carrying a newly “found” surplus of $228 million. This annual circus parade is led by Supt. Roy Romer, who of course says that he has only been there two years, so he’s not really in charge yet.

The clowns are headed by the funny school board President Caprice Young, who takes such joy in knocking down teachers, counselors, nurses, clerical, police and custodial staff so that they all fall on the children. Hilarious! And there, sitting in the stands, is the all-knowing money manager, the omnipotent Zeronian, who looks down on all this and says, “Who? Where? What parade? Huh? I don’t see any circus. $228 million? When? Why?” Let the show begin!

Arthur Grofsky

Northridge

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Finds? Windfall? Bad accounting? No, it’s just the same game the district has been playing for the 37 years that I’ve been teaching. It’s business as usual--make cuts, “find” the money and then pretend that students and employees have gained something. But this time the incompetence is astounding, even for the LAUSD’s leaders. They can’t reverse the class size increases because they have already been done? Huh? They can’t track spending or even--get this--tell how many employees they have because their computers are old.

My eighth-grade students are much more creative than this with their why-I-didn’t-do-my-homework stories. I’d better send a few of them downtown to help Romer and Young.

Ann Bourman

Los Angeles