Los Angeles Finalizes $14 Million Plan Guaranteeing Foster Kids Reliable, Uninterrupted Transportation to Their Home Schools
October 23, 2019
By: Susan Abram
Source: The 74
A recent federal report found administrative and financial obstacles challenged the ability to keep foster youth in their school of origin. Los Angeles might emerge as a pioneer on fighting those barriers, now that one of the largest school districts in the nation has approved its share of a five-year, at least $14 million transportation plan for these students.
The plan approved by Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) – by far the largest of Los Angeles County’s 80 school districts, with 40 percent of the county’s students – helps bring it into closer compliance with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), an overhaul of federal education policy signed into law by President Obama in 2015. The law mandated that local educational and child welfare agencies provide transportation for foster youth to their home school starting in December of 2016.