Letters to the Editor: How can LAUSD’s gains continue if its one-time federal boost is used up?

To the editor: Congratulations to the Los Angeles Unified School District for its gains (“LAUSD test scores hit a new high, erasing pandemic lows with a second year of strong gains,” July 22). Yet it is important to recognize that the one-time federal money was spent on expensive labor-intensive programs (tutoring, summer school, classes during winter and spring break, intervention teachers and reading coaches) to address the harms of the COVID-19 pandemic. Supt. Alberto Carvalho, per the article, insists that “the system in place should continue to build on the academic gains.” But with the money all spent, how can it? More clarity from the LAUSD on that point would be appreciated.

Williamson M. Evers, Laguna Niguel
The writer is a senior fellow at the Independent Institute and a former U.S. assistant secretary of education for the Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development.