At $578 million the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools will open next month in Los Angeles at the site of the assassination of its namesake at the Ambassador Hotel.
This K-12 complex, to house 4,200 students, is remarkable in its architecture, glass and metal predominate, and includes a state-of-the-art swimming pool, fine art murals, a huge auditorium "fit for the oscars", and a faculty dining room that would put a fine restaurant to shame.
Photo: Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo
The estimated cost is said to be $250,000 per pupil, more than the Bird's Nest stadium constructed for the Olympics in Beijing, price tag $500 million, and the Denver Broncos stadium $400 million.
With a Los Angeles Unified School District budget deficit of $640 million, and 3000 teachers having been laid off this is a luxury we couldn't afford, especially since the L.A.U.S.D. is one of the lowest performing school districts in the country with a more than 35% dropout rate.
Officials at the District say that the money for the building is from voter approved bonds and can only be spent on this building. This money is totally separate from the budget for teachers and textbooks.
I wonder if voters really knew what they were approving and if they would endorse the measure again.
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Wow - that school better produce some amazing API scores, or I think there's going to be a lot of people extremely upset! I hope the pool and auditorium will be available for the community and community groups to use.
Saw this on the morning news today, all I can say is wow!!! I do wonder what the voters would say about this, and what students are going to be going to this school? Will be interesting to follow and see how things play out with this school.
Yikes! Simply amazing that anyone could think that this is a justifiable expense when California is so in debt. $250,000 per pupil? Are they insane?
Jane,
We have a similar problem here, although no where near to this degree! Why do schools have to have ceramic tile floors, fancy decorating schemes, etc... then tell us there's no money for buses??
Tiffany, maybe they will host the Oscars there instead to get some revenue?
Kim, the voters voted in a bond to pay for this....
Kathryn, uh, I think they are.
Bill, go figure.
To be fair, they voted a long time ago when things were going well in the economy, but it seems that we could go back and get another referendum on the ballot to redistribute. IMO
Karen, you are correct, but still, this is beyond excessive.
Jane: I read of this project quite a while back when they imploded the old hotel. Controversy has hovered around the entire issue from Day 1, as historical preservationists hoped to save the hotel from being torn down. All I can say is ... now that the school is built and ready to open, I sure hope that good finally comes from this project. The land/property itself has see more than enough sadness and waste ...
Gene
Gene, I think they kept a little of the old hotel for posterity. One can only hope that this project does not fall flat on its face.
Good afternoon Jane,
It's amazing..they could not use the money for anything but the school. What a novel idea!! Too bad the government didn't follow this rule on social security..social secuirty wouln't be almost broke now!!
Dorie, wouldn't that be great.
Watched this on Morning Joe on Monday. To me, this is totally out of the park wrong to put this kind of expense on the taxpayers. Build it for 50 million, then give all the teachers a handsome raise.... g
Cherise, as Karen says, this was approved in better times, but honestly......
Jane, I've got to get out of the blogosphere....when I heard about this on the news, my first thought was curiosity as to the voter's mindset. The 2nd thought was, "I wonder if Jane will blog about this..."
Mary Kay, now that is truly scary.
Hi Jane, This is quite an amazing building, but seems like such a waste of money! I think of all people Robert Kennedy may be rolling over in his grave to see his name associated with such extravagance while education might have been better served. I went to a school named after JFK - a three story plain brick building -no frills - it looked like a prison. LOL!
Mary, it is grossly extravagant and makes absolutely no sense in a city with such appalling drop-out and test score statistics.