Story Published:
Feb 13, 2009 at 3:26 PM PDT
Story Updated:
Mar 19, 2009 at 4:15 PM PDT
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Unified School District would get more than $1 billion from the economic stimulus bill approved by Congress, LAUSD officials said.
The measure still needs to be signed into law by the president before anyone gets a nickel.
Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Los Angeles, who voted for the bill, praised it at a recent news conference at John Adams Middle School in Los Angeles, along with LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines and LAUSD school board president Monica Garcia.
“Working families are losing their jobs, their homes and their savings, and it is incumbent upon us to act swiftly and prudently to reinvest in our country and jumpstart the economy,” Becerra said.
Republican Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon of Santa Clarita, who voted against the bill, said it will add more than $1 trillion to the national debt.
In a statement on his Web site, he denounced the plan as “nothing more than a spending measure cloaked as a ‘stimulus.’”
“Eventually, someone will have to pay for this bill, and it will likely be our children and grandchildren who shoulder that burden,” he said. “Economic stimulus should focus on job creation, small business tax relief and putting money back into the pockets of Americans, but the Democrat bill fails to focus on these critical tasks.”
If the bill became law in its current form, California would receive $79 billion to help prevent further layoffs in education, and LAUSD would get more than $1 billion, according to Bacerra.
Of that money, nearly $436 million would be spent on construction at LAUSD, which has plenty of new building and refurbishing projects awaiting funds, according to Guy Mehula, chief facilities executive for the school district.
“The good news is that we’re ready to go,” he said.
Projects range from fixing roofs to improving handicap access to seismic upgrades, Mehula said.
“Our average school is over 50 years old, and there are a lot of deficiencies at these schools,” he said.
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