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LAUSD Teachers Face Displacement Due To Pandemic-Related Low Enrollment

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) -- It's another blow to LAUSD parents.

Five weeks into the school year, some schools have been told they are at risk of losing teachers due to declining enrollment.

"It's just not fair to our kids!" said Jenna Schwartz, who has two kids in LAUSD schools. "I don't understand how this is anything other than an effort to dismantle public education."

According to the teacher's union, the district intends to reassign some teachers to schools with higher enrollment. Others will be stuck in limbo.

"I heard from teachers right before getting on Zoom call with you, right after lunch today, [they were told to] tell children that they are going to be displaced and they will not be their teacher," said United Teachers Los Angeles President Cecily Myart-Cruz.

Gina Amenta-Shin said her 5th grade students were confused when she told them.

"They wanted to talk about it, and I said 'We don't have control over this, so we will carry on as usual,'" she said. "It's hard to do any long term planning, but we need to be there for the kids. They need stability."

Hayley Wood is the parent of a 2nd grader at an LAUSD school that is losing three teachers.

"My concerns are for their social and emotional well-being," said said. "These kids have already been through so much with the pandemic."

LAUSD board member Scott Schmerelson said he wants the district to halt any displacements during the pandemic.

"Leave things alone. We are fully funded this year," he said. "The question is, well what about schools that have grown and need teachers? In my opinion, we have many pool teachers who don't have an assignment.  They can be sent there until this is finished."

In a memo on Thursday, Superintendent Austin Beutner told principals that the district will be releasing carryover money from last school year, so that schools can choose to use that money to keep their teachers.

District officials said the money will be enough to keep around 190 teachers from being displaced.

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