page_title: Los Angeles Unified School District
section_title: Governance
hierarchical_section_title: Los Angeles Unified School District / Governance
caption_attribution_description: English: Headquarters of Los Angeles Unified School District, Downtown Los Angeles, California Español: La sede del Distrito Escolar Unificado de Los Ángeles 中文: 洛杉矶联合学区的总部
context_page_description: Los Angeles Unified School District is a public school district in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the largest public school system in California and the 2nd largest public school district in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. During the 2016–2017 school year, LAUSD served around 734,641 students, including 107,142 students at independent charter schools and 69,867 adult students. During the same school year, it had 26,556 teachers and 33,635 other employees. It is the second largest employer in Los Angeles County, after the county government. The total school district operating budget for 2016–2017 was $7.59 billion.
  The school district consists of Los Angeles and all or portions of several adjoining Southern California cities. LAUSD has its own police force, the Los Angeles School Police Department, which was established in 1948 to provide police services for LAUSD schools. The LAUSD enrolls a third of the preschoolers in Los Angeles County, and operates almost as many buses as the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
context_section_description: Los Angeles Unified School District is governed by a seven-member Board of Education, which appoints a superintendent, who runs the daily operations of the district. Members of the board are elected directly by voters from separate districts that encompass communities that the LAUSD serves. The district's current superintendent is Austin Beutner. The district's former superintendents are Michelle King and Ramon C. Cortines. The Board of Education selected King for superintendent in January 2016; she served until announcing in January 2018 her retirement plans.  Vivian Ekchian became acting superintendent until the Board election of Beutner in May 2018. Cortines was appointed acting superintendent after the school board decided to buy out the contract of David L. Brewer III, a former Navy Vice-Admiral who served as head of the Navy's Education and Training Division and was in charge of the SeaLift Command. From 2001 until his retirement in October 2006, the district was led by former Governor of Colorado and Democratic Party chairman Roy Romer.
  The seven current members of Board of Education include George McKenna (District 1), Board President Monica Garcia (District 2), Scott Schmerelson (District 3), Board Vice President Nick Melvoin (District 4), Kelly Fitzpatrick-Gonez (District 6), Richard Vladovic (District 7),  and Jackie Goldberg (District 5) following a special election held after the resignation of Dr. Ref Rodriguez in July 2018. 
  In the March 2015 Los Angeles City Council and School Board elections, voters approved Charter Amendment 2, which allows the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education to change their election dates to even-numbered years. It will take effect with the March 2020 Primary election and the runoff in November 2020. 
  Every LAUSD household or residential area is zoned to an elementary school, a middle school and a high school, in one of the eight local school districts. Each local school district is run by an area superintendent and is headquartered within the district.
caption: LAUSD headquarters just west of Downtown Los Angeles
exif: {}