Education

Los Angeles is a place where all of our children, regardless of their zip code, can realize their dreams. Mayor Garcetti knows that access to a quality public education is a gateway to opportunity for youth and families across our city, and he’s committed to putting every young Angeleno on a path to a high school diploma, opening the door to a higher education, and offering them the training, tools, resources, and support to join the workforce, earn a good living, provide for their loved ones, and strengthen our communities.

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Our task begins in early childhood classrooms and extends throughout college and a career. That’s why Mayor Garcetti has partnered with the L.A. Unified School District (LAUSD), the L.A. Community College District, the County, the L.A. Area Chamber of Commerce, and leaders in philanthropy and the private sector to realize our comprehensive vision for stronger community schools across Los Angeles.

LAUSD-UTLA AGREEMENT. When tens of thousands of teachers took to the streets in early 2019, Mayor Garcetti saw an opening for more than a single teachers’ contract; he saw a chance to reimagine how we educate L.A.’s kids. He and his office convened leaders from LAUSD and United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) to settle the strike, put students and teachers back into the classroom, and embrace a new vision for our local schools.

LOS ANGELES COLLEGE PROMISE. Mayor Garcetti launched the LA College Promise in 2016 to provide free community college tuition for all graduates from LAUSD and affiliated charter schools. The first two years of this program served over 9,000 local students — and it’s become a model for our entire state, as leaders in Sacramento recently approved legislation to fund two years of community college for young people across California. In 2019, Mayor Garcetti took steps to build on the success of the LA College Promise: announcing plans to deliver free rides on DASH buses to all community college students; provide laptops to up to 6,000 College Promise enrollees in fall 2019; and increase the number of College Promise students to 10,000 by the time school starts in 2022.

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION. Mayor Garcetti knows that early childhood education can’t be a luxury only for those who can afford it. What we do to educate kids in their earliest years can yield dramatic benefits to them and to our economy and communities down the road. Knowing this has to be a priority for everyone in Los Angeles, the Mayor announced that the City will work with the District, the County Office of Education, and First 5 L.A. to close the school readiness gap for our most vulnerable children. On top of that step, the City will recruit, train, and certify 2,500 new early childhood educators by 2025, so that the next generation has qualified teachers to teach and inspire them on the beginning of their educational journey.

LA’s BEST. Mayor Garcetti worked to extend the reach of LA’s BEST, which provides access to after school programming and care for kids ages 5-12. LA’s BEST serves 25,000 kids a day, at 200 locations. Mayor Garcetti expanded their summer program to reach a total of 7,200 kids across the city. In the summer of 2019, LA’s BEST offered summer learning in our two Promise Zones, adding close to 1,300 students to this initiative.

COMMUNITY SCHOOL PARKS. Mayor Garcetti knows that our city has to invest in children’s health, confidence, and social skills through sports and recreational opportunities – in enrichment and activities beyond the classroom or traditional school hours. In 2018, he launched Community School Parks, a partnership between the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks (RAP) and LAUSD, to provide access to school yards over the weekends in neighborhoods where green space is not yet in walking distance from most families. By 2025, the City will have 25 Community School Parks, bringing easy park access to more than 200,000 children across Los Angeles.

HIRE LA’S YOUTH. Hire LA’s Youth creates paid summer job opportunities to open doors to a career path for low-income youth aged 14-24. Since 2013, Mayor Garcetti’s office has placed 78,000 youth in jobs. In 2018 alone, it placed more than 17,500 youth in jobs. In 2019, Mayor Garcetti announced a new goal of placing 20,000 youth jobs, quadrupling the number from when he took office.

L.A. CASH FOR COLLEGE CAMPAIGN. Every year, thanks to the City’s ongoing investment, the L.A. Cash for College program serves nearly 10,000 students and their families each year with help to complete financial aid and college applications.

FAMILYSOURCE CENTERS. The City has worked with the LAUSD to bring support services to local students and families through our FamilySource Centers. Spread out in neighborhoods across Los Angeles, these centers are a hub for everything low-income families need, offering everything from free tax prep services, to housing resource support, to aid for immigrant families, and more. The FamilySource Centers also host College Corners, launched in 2016 – a space staffed by peer mentors who provide college planning and application assistance to students and their parents. To date, FamilySource Centers have provided academic support services to more than 26,000 students and helped secure over $6 million in student financial assistance.

MY GLOBAL LA. The Mayor’s Office of International Affairs is partnering with the L.A. Unified School District to introduce the world of foreign affairs and diplomacy to 10th grade students throughout the 2019-2020 school year. My Global LA will connect 10 Consulates to 10 LAUSD high schools for a year-long partnership that will allow schools and Consulates to develop an organic relationship and work together on joint initiatives that offer students international perspectives and cross-cultural lessons throughout the school year. The program will culminate with a capstone presentation from students to showcase what they learned over the course of the year.

L.A.’s GEAR UP. With Mayor Garcetti’s support, L.A. won a record $77.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP). This grant brings free tutoring, college and career counseling, financial aid advice, and other college readiness services to more than 14,000 students in over 60 schools and academies across L.A.