What we are hearing<\/p>\n
For the most part, LAUSD students told LAist they\u2019re experiencing the usual mix of nerves and excitement associated with the first day of school.<\/p>\n
They\u2019re also aware that local and national politics are reshaping their education, including who is in the classroom.<\/p>\n
A note on student names<\/p>\n
LAist is not publishing the last names of students to protect their privacy.<\/p>\n
Andrea, a sophomore at Francisco Bravo Medical Magnet High School in Lincoln Heights, said there were days last year when so many students were absent that teachers would pause their lessons. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat’s the point of teaching it if half the class is gone?\u201d Andrea said. \u201cThat really makes everybody behind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Educators have patrolled the neighborhood near Andrea\u2019s school to notify families of any ICE activity nearby. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat definitely made us feel more safe and more respected in the school,\u201d she said. Throughout the year, she noticed more of her peers return to class.<\/p>\n
Resources for navigating the LAUSD school year<\/p>\n
LAist is here to help. Check out our guides for:<\/p>\n
A looming shortfall <\/p>\n
LAUSD\u2019s spending is budgeted<\/a> to exceed revenue by $2 billion this school year. For the third consecutive year, the district plans to pay the difference with reserves that were largely built up by one-time federal pandemic relief dollars<\/a>.<\/p>\n The district\u2019s financial projections show LAUSD will be short $231 million by November 2027<\/a>.<\/p>\n The L.A. County Office of Education, which oversees the finances of local districts, intervened in July<\/a> after the board approved new labor contracts for LAUSD\u2019s largest unions.<\/p>\n \u201cThe financial reality before the District raises serious concerns regarding its ability to meet its financial obligations,\u201d wrote Debra Duardo, L.A. County Superintendent of Schools, in a July 2 letter<\/a>.<\/p>\n If district officials decide to request an emergency loan from the state, it would trigger a rare takeover<\/a> that would strip LAUSD\u2019s board of decision-making power and likely take years to undo<\/a>.<\/p>\n The county appointed a fiscal advisor to the district, but did not grant that person the authority to override the board or superintendent\u2019s decisions.<\/p>\n The county directed LAUSD to provide more details about the district\u2019s plan to stabilize the budget<\/a> through $3.6 billion in cuts spread out over three years. District officials said their plan envisions furloughs for all employees in the 2027-28 school year \u2014 a move that requires negotiating with the unions that represent those employees.<\/p>\n \u201cI think what they expect to see from us\u2026 is frankly a prove-up around the fiscal stabilization plan,\u201d Chait said. \u201cThey want to see that we can actually implement what we put into that plan.\u201d<\/p>\n District staff have previously said that plans to stabilize the budget could lead to more than 6,000 layoffs<\/a>, amounting to more than 10% of LAUSD\u2019s current workforce.<\/p>\n One unknown is how future state funding will change the district\u2019s budget projections. While California education funding has risen in recent years<\/a>, the state plans to hold back $3.9 billion for schools and community colleges<\/a> in the most recent budget.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one is asking the state for anything more or less than what we are due,\u201d Chait said. \u201cWe are not asking for a handout.\u201d<\/p>\n New, but familiar leadership<\/p>\n Though Chait is new to the district\u2019s top job, he is familiar to many from his nearly three-decade tenure as a district educator and administrator.<\/p>\n District principals greeted Chait with a standing ovation at his first opening-of-schools address in July<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAs I was preparing for this talk, I was thinking about how to introduce myself,\u201d Chait told a crowd of several hundred administrators at James A. Garfield High School. \u201cBut then I realized you don’t introduce yourself to family.\u201d<\/p>\n Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Andr\u00e9s Chait speaks with educators and support staff at Pacoima Middle School on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. <\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Allen J. Schaben<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n Los Angeles Times via Getty Images<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n Chait highlighted preliminary results from the state\u2019s standardized reading and math tests that show a third consecutive year of improvements.<\/p>\n However, even with that progress, the majority of students do not meet the benchmark for either subject. It\u2019s unclear how LAUSD\u2019s performance compares to the state because those results have yet to be released.<\/p>\n Chait is the first LAUSD insider to serve as superintendent in a decade. His hire came after two high-profile external hires \u2014 Alberto Carvalho<\/a>, a former Miami schools leader, and Austin Beutner,<\/a> an investment banker and former publisher of the L.A. Times. <\/p>\n LAUSD\u2019s elected seven-member board, which has the final say on the district\u2019s financial decisions, is unchanged. Voters re-elected incumbents<\/a> to this year\u2019s three board races from a sparse field of candidates in June\u2019s primary contest.<\/p>\n Ongoing enrollment challenges<\/p>\n LAUSD is projected to enroll 378,000 students<\/a> in transitional kindergarten through 12th grade this school year.<\/p>\n As birth rates decline<\/a>, fewer students are enrolling at schools throughout the state<\/a>. The drop in enrollment is steeper in areas with high costs of living, such as L.A.<\/a><\/p>\n California funds schools based on an average of how many students show up to class each day, with additional money for every student in the district who is low-income, an English-language learner, unhoused or a foster youth. Over time, fewer students could lead to less funding.<\/p>\n District leaders attributed last school year\u2019s larger-than-expected drop in students to the \u201cfear and instability\u201d associated with federal immigration raids.<\/a><\/p>\n Even students who continued to attend school reported changing their behavior in response to the raids.<\/p>\n Alvira, a junior at Lake Balboa College Preparatory Magnet K-12, is an immigrant from Bangladesh. She started carrying a photocopy of her passport until she could get a REAL ID.<\/p>\n \u201cJust in case anything happens, I can prove that I’m a citizen,\u201d Alvira said.<\/p>\n Find your LAUSD board member<\/p>\n LAUSD board members can amplify concerns from parents, students, and educators. Find your representative below.<\/p>\n District 1 map<\/a>, includes Mid City, parts of South LA District 2 map<\/a>, includes Downtown, East LA District 3 map<\/a>, includes West San Fernando Valley, North Hollywood District 4 map<\/a>, includes West Hollywood, some beach cities District 5 map<\/a>, includes parts of Northeast and Southwest LA District 6 map<\/a>, includes East San Fernando Valley District 7 map<\/a>, includes South LA, and parts of the South Bay![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786499534_647_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"chart](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786499536_47_thumbnail.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Board Member Sherlett Hendy Newbill<\/a><\/p>\n
Board Vice President Roc\u00edo Rivas<\/a><\/p>\n
Board President Scott Schmerelson<\/a><\/p>\n
Board Member Nick Melvoin\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n
Board Member Karla Griego<\/a><\/p>\n
Board Member Kelly Gonez<\/a><\/p>\n
Board Member Tanya Ortiz Franklin<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As another Los Angeles Unified school year starts Wednesday, district leaders say they hope to maintain recent academic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430640,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,52,51,47,50,49],"class_list":["post-430639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}