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Education Dec 02, 2023
Catholic school students enter the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in October 2023. | Photo courtesy of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles/Facebook
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The U.S. Department of Education has affirmed a previous ruling that the Los Angeles Unified School District violated federal law by slashing funding for low-income Catholic-school students, according to a decision announced Thursday.
The ruling affirmed the state Department of Education’s decision in 2021 that the LAUSD had failed to “accurately count the number of children from low-income families” attending schools in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and “meaningfully consult” with the archdiocese on those discrepancies.
The Nov. 16 ruling would restore millions of dollars in federal money that goes to low-income students attending LA-area Catholic schools that qualify for Title I funding, according to the ADLA.
“We are pleased that the U.S. Department of Education affirmed the findings of the California Department of Education,” Paul Escala, the ADLA’s senior director and superintendent of schools, said in a statement.
“For years, many low-income students attending Catholic schools in the boundaries of the LAUSD have been deprived of vital educational services, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, they are legally eligible for,” he said. “We trust this decision will result in a restoration of services for thousands of students in our schools which needed now more than ever.”
A spokesperson for the LAUSD did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the USDE’s decision, the LAUSD must take corrective actions, including working with the Archdiocese to analyze and recalculate Title I-eligible schools and students, identify services to be provided and to implement the amenities within 90 days, or a later agreed-upon date.
Once those recalculations have been made, restitution for past years can be determined.
According to the state Department of Education report, in the three years prior to 2019, the LAUSD received an annual average of around $291 million in Title I funds and distributed between 2% and 2.6% among private schools. But in the 2019-20 school year, when it cut the Catholic recipients from 102 to 17, the district had received more than $349 million for Title I — an increase over earlier years — but distributed less than .5% among private schools.
The Archdiocese’s Department of Catholic Schools is the largest system of nonpublic schools in the nation, with 250 elementary and high schools and more than 68,000 students.
