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The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. As of 2004 it serves over 710,000 students. The current superintendent (as of 2004) is former Colorado governor Roy Romer.
LAUSD serves Los Angeles and all or portions of several adjoining California cities. It is so large that it has its own police department to provide campus security.
LAUSD is known (locally, at least) for extremely overcrowded schools and poor maintanence. However, a significant number of the schools do not exhibit such conditions and the LAUSD has cleaned up some schools in recent years.
A recent attempt at reform led to the creation of 11 minidistricts with decentralized management. Due to the cost of this additional bureaucracy, Superintendent Romer has called for merging the minidistricts to cut overhead.
The LAUSD is the perhaps the largest property owner in Los Angeles. Two recent development projects have generated controversy. The Belmont Learning Center was originally envisioned as a mixed-use education and retail complex to include several schools, shops and a public park. Ground was broken for construction in 1995. Midway through construction it was discovered that explosive methane and toxic hydrogen sulfide were seeping from an old underground oil field. Later, an active surface fault was found under one of the completed buildings, necessitating its removal. The LAUSD had spent an estimated $175 million dollars on the project by 2004, with an additional $110 million budgeted for cleanup costs. The total cost is estimated by LAUSD at $300 million, but critics have said it may end up closer to $500 million.
Another controversial development has been the Ambassador Hotel. The LAUSD purchased the defunct landmark in 2001 after a legal battle dating back to 1989. Plans to demolish the building, site of Senator Robert F. Kennedy's assassination, have met with opposition from preservationists.
LAUSD cities
Notable teachers
Jaime Escalante taught students Calculus at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles for many years, as dramatized in the movie Stand and Deliver.
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