Concerned that a potential undercount in the 2020 Census could impact the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the Board of Education voted in October to create a plan to help educate and encourage families to participate in the national population count.
“L.A. Unified is committed to ensuring that all of our families understand the importance of participating in the 2020 Census,” said Superintendent Austin Beutner. “We must educate and engage our families so that we receive our fair share of the federal funding we need to serve our students a well as the representatives to lead our communities and our nation.”
The U.S. Census Bureau has warned of the difficulty in getting accurate counts of some groups of residents, such as immigrants, renters, children and teens and those with limited English proficiency.
Under the board resolution, L.A. Unified will create a plan to ensure an accurate county, including the incorporation of census outreach and education into existing programs and services and in multiple languages.
“We at L.A. Unified are fully committed to a thorough and complete 2020 Census because we know that federal resources will be distributed more adequately that way,” said Board President Monica Garcia. “We want each of our students and families to be counted, regardless of their citizenship status.”
LAUSD is the second-largest public school district in the nation. The census count will determine how much Title 1 funding the district receives for high-need schools and professional development.
“We recognize the value of thorough and comprehensive enumeration of L.A. Unified families and students,” said Board Member Dr. George J. McKenna. “Federal resources are vital to the support of many supplemental services that augment student learning such as medical, health and nutrition services.”
