Over at KCET they examine how Los Angeles Unified keeps building and building despite many schools with empty seats. Some great interviews with local Los Angeles Principals who are mystified about where these new kids will come from as their own schools face declining enrollment:
Despite substantial budget problems, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is in the midst of what may be the largest public works project in U.S. history: a $20.1 billion expansion project to build new schools across the city. Should the District be spending all that money during this recession, especially when it’s threatening to lay off thousands of teachers? And will there even be enough students to fill all the new classrooms? Thousands of people throughout the LA area have even lost their homes to make way for new schools they think might not be needed—people like the Villanueva family who show us the site of their former home.
The video is great and really gets at the magnitude of Los Angeles building program in the face of the ongoing enrollment decline. No Logic to where these new schools are being built.