CALIFORNIA—On June 25, the California Department of Education issued a 58-page investigation report stating that LAUSD broke federal law by keeping over $5 million in Title I funding intended for low-income students in Catholic schools.
In their report, the California Department of Education referred to the LAUSD’s actions as “egregious,” and now demands that LAUSD provide students in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles (ADLA) the “agreed-upon services” by the time school starts this year. Title I funding provides support for students struggling in Math, English, and provides counseling for students who are underperforming or have fallen behind.
According to The Angeles, which is the Catholic News outlet for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the Archdiocese filed a complaint on September 19, 2019, after LAUSD reportedly blocked Title I funding for all but 17 out of the 100 Catholic schools eligible for funding.
During the three years prior to 2019, LAUSD reportedly received an annual average of about $291 million in Title I funding. According to the report, between 2 and 2.6 percent of that had been distributed among private schools.
In 2019, the cut in funding reportedly cut Catholic recipients from 102 to 17. LAUSD received more than $349 million in Title I funding. Less than 0.5 percent was distributed to private schools.
The total amount shared among all private schools dropped from around $7.5 million to $1.7 million in all. Catholic Schools reported receiving on or about $190,000 or 11 percent of the total of all private schools.
According to the Angeles, The Department of Catholic Schools is the largest private school system in the Los Angeles area.
LA Catholics report that more than 250 Catholic schools serve the greater Los Angeles region.
According to lacatholicschools.org, students in Catholic and other private schools demonstrate higher academic achievement than students from similar backgrounds in public schools.
