LAUSD Chief Deasy in DC, Fights for Special Ed Money (CA)

May 6, 2011

It’s the fifth annual “L.A. on the Hill” week when local political and business leaders meet with lawmakers in Washington, D.C. The new boss at the L.A. Unified School District came east looking for money – and some flexibility with the federal dollars he already has.

L.A. Unified Superintendent John Deasy says Congress OK’d a 40 percent reimbursement to help school districts pay for special education. But the check to L.A. Unified was more than a billion dollars short.

Deasy talked to members of Congress. Their reaction? “Tremendous empathy. No money.”

He says they discussed “thoughtful approaches” to spending. “There are numerous small entitlement programs that if we’re going to be in the case of no increasing resources and increasing expenditures, do we get some freedom to actually say we can shift some funding over?”

In simpler language, Deasy wants to cut federally-funded projects that are “underutilized” and use that cash for special education. He didn’t say which programs he’d like to cut, and he can’t shift the money without the government’s OK.