LA unveils $578M school, costliest in the nation

[mike r]

Source: Associated Press

Next month's opening of the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools will be auspicious for a reason other than its both storied and infamous history as the former Ambassador Hotel, where the Democratic presidential contender was assassinated in 1968. With an eye-popping price tag of $578 million, it will mark the inauguration of the nation's most expensive public school ever. The K-12 complex to house 4,200 students has raised eyebrows across the country as the creme de la creme of "Taj Mahal" schools, $100 million-plus campuses boasting both architectural panache and deluxe amenities.

"There's no more of the old, windowless cinderblock schools of the '70s where kids felt, 'Oh, back to jail,'" said Joe Agron, editor-in-chief of American School & University, a school construction journal. "Districts want a showpiece for the community, a really impressive environment for learning." Not everyone is similarly enthusiastic. "New buildings are nice, but when they're run by the same people who've given us a 50 percent dropout rate, they're a big waste of taxpayer money," said Ben Austin, executive director of Parent Revolution who sits on the California Board of Education. "Parents aren't fooled."

At RFK, the features include fine art murals and a marble memorial depicting the complex's namesake, a manicured public park, a state-of-the-art swimming pool and preservation of pieces of the original hotel. Partly by circumstance and partly by design, the Los Angeles Unified School District has emerged as the mogul of Taj Mahals. The RFK complex follows on the heels of two other LA schools among the nation's costliest — the $377 million Edward R. Roybal Learning Center, which opened in 2008, and the $232 million Visual and Performing Arts High School that debuted in 2009.

The pricey schools have come during a sensitive period for the nation's second-largest school system: Nearly 3,000 teachers have been laid off over the past two years, the academic year and programs have been slashed. The district also faces a $640 million shortfall and some schools persistently rank among the nation's lowest performing. Los Angeles is not alone, however, in building big. Some of the most expensive schools are found in low-performing districts — New York City has a $235 million campus; New Brunswick, N.J., opened a $185 million high school in January. Nationwide, dozens of schools have surpassed $100 million with amenities including atriums, orchestra-pit auditoriums, food courts, even bamboo nooks. The extravagance has led some to wonder where the line should be drawn and whether more money should be spent on teachers.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_taj_mahal_schools

[tinrobot]

1. How much will the teachers there be making?

I'm all for pouring money into public schools, but I'm wondering if this construction is being done at the expense of teacher salaries.

[boppers]

2. Starting: $35,760 average: $59,825

http://teacherportal.com/salary/California-teacher-salary

[Downwinder]

3. Cameras in every corner? n/t

[saigon68]

22. Oh boy I feel SAFE now

[Ruby the Liberal]

4. Um, in a climate where we are laying off teachers, raising their class sizes

and asking kids to bring their own toilet paper - they spend the money on a building? Really?

[lostnfound]

5. There's always enough money to funnel through big contractors. Just like libraries.

My city has spent millions in the last 3 or 4 years renovating libraries - massive renovations - but keep them open basically only 9 am - 6 pm Monday through Friday. Closed Saturday, Sunday. As a '9 to 5' working parent that pays $20K to the city every year in taxes, I'd like the libraries to be open more than 2 or 3 hours a week of my non-working hours. It's infuriating. Meanwhil the mayor is all hyped about extending school hours. What do they have against 'self-education', anyway? Never mind, I think I know the answer to that.

[Ruby the Liberal]

9. Ugh. At least our library is open on Saturday.

What a waste of resources.

[Luciferous]

7. +1 It's not like the building is going to make students excel in their studies.

It's excessive and just another indication that the priorities in this country are seriously screwed up.

[mopinko]

27. in all fairness, the contracts were let in a very different "climate"

this project was in the works for many years. not necessarily defending the budget, but it was a different time financially when these plans were made and contracts executed.

[Ruby the Liberal]

35. I can't recall a time where school budgets were so flush that

smaller classrooms and better pay weren't an issue. Not priority, but an issue. :(

[Luciferous]

6. What a waste of money. How about spending that money on

teachers or educational programs instead of a building? I think it's absolutely disgusting.

[JI7]

20. Buildings can be educational , it IS a school building

[tomm2thumbs]

8. confused by two contrary figures - or is it me?

the article say:

"After buildings were demolished at the site of the 2,400-student Roybal school, contaminated soil, a methane gas field and an earthquake fault were discovered. A gas mitigation system cost $17 million."

later it says:

"Methane mitigation cost $33 million"

[Scruffy1]

10. The price of 600 soldiers in Afghanistan for one year

[SoapBox]

11. Outrageous!

...this is more about the LAUSD management and other "management" types
stroking their egos with this monument.

Kids don't need a monument to get a good education.

It takes good leadership...good instructors...good support services...and PARENTS to help the kids.

A clean, non-toxic property, does not need to cost ONE-HALF of a BILLION dollars!

Californians should be outraged.

[tomm2thumbs]

13. +1 more than Half a Billion Dollars for a single school - think about that

it boggles

[Rage for Order]

29. A school that only serves 4,200 students, at that

That's about $1.25 million in construction costs per student served. Absolutely ridiculous.

[w4rma]

12. Good. This is about the best thing I've seen tax money spent on recently. (nt)

[sandnsea]

14. School construction bonds are separate

Operating expenses are paid for through state, federal, and local levies.

I guess we could leave the kids in leaking buildings with rats running through them.

We should spend some money on some innovative public schools, nothing wrong with that.

[SnakeEyes]

15. False dilemma.

It doesn't have to be leaky building or palace school. And it's in Los Angeles where they don't deal with the same weather issues much of the rest of the country has. There is no excuse for this kind of spending. Especially from a state that has no money.

[sandnsea]

16. Pipes leak, toilets leak,

Old radiator heating systems rattle and leak. California schools are built on earthquake faults. Lots of issues.

This school is for 3,000 kids. A new school for 300 kids generally runs at least $10 million, just a plain elementary school.

Certainly this school didn't need every hi-tech gadget available. But it would still cost a bundle to build a new middle school with internet access and similar technology that our kids DO need to have access to.

And what I said is, it's good to have some PUBLIC schools that are models of what education can and should be. We can't let private schools continue to do all the innovating.

It costs money. People can see and make their choices.

[SnakeEyes]

37. So...

Spending a shitload of money = models of what education can and should be?

Forgive me if this sounds unreasonable but I'll look at student performance instead.

[Doremus]

39. Apparently the taxpayers feel differently.

The taxpayers who approved the construction levy beg to differ with you.

[primavera]

17. Isn't that about how much a F-22 hubcap costs?

Just imagine how many state of the art schools we could fund if we scrapped a few fighters. Of course, since weapons are about the only thing we still actually produce in this country and don't outsource the third world sweatshops, I guess we wouldn't have much of an economy left if we did that.

[bossy22]

28. no, F-22 had a per unit cost of about 150 million

[JI7]

18. maybe it will inspire and motivate the kids

it will be interesting to see how the kids do in the long term compared to kids in other schools.

while it is expensive the benefits could be far greater if the kids end up doing better.

[Lightning Count]

31. If there is one thing we know, it's that more money spent equals better educated students. nt

[JI7]

19. RFK might have preferred it to become this over becoming a hotel and tourist spot for wealthy

types.

[tourivers83]

21. "Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?"

Every American child has a right to a mostly free education in a decent building at taxpayers’ expense.
But who is going to pay for this? And gold plated toilet seats are a bit much especially when kids have to
Bring toilet paper from home and don’t even get me started on the soft Corinthian leather desk chairs.
:eyes: :shrug: :dilemma: :banghead: :popcorn: :hide: :rofl:

[Romulox]

23. Artist's rendering of a possible funding solution:

[thereismore]

24. I don't like the architecture. nt

[laureloak]

25. Use the same building plans for schools throughout the state.

Just keep refining it. Schools will be built better, faster and much cheaper.

[Xithras]

26. 300 miles north, in Modesto California....

Two high schools have been built in the past five years, the second of which just opened two weeks ago. These are state of the art, modern multistory buildings that meet California's strict earthquake codes, use recycled materials, and are designed with the "college campus" feel that is all the rage nowadays. The high schools have modern science labs, computers everywhere, multimedia rooms, indoor and outdoor theaters, large and modern high school auditorium facilities, etc. They also have big windows, and there isn't a cinderblock to be seen anywhere. They even built an elevated bridge over the four lane roadway in front of one of the schools, so students wouldn't have to "risk" walking in a crosswalk.

The cost of the campuses was $70 million apiece. Granted, the land is a "bit" cheaper in Modesto, and Modesto Schools saved a little bit of money by using the same blueprint for both schools, but the comparison is pretty amazing. Modesto built two fully modern, state of the art high schools for ONE FIFTH of the cost that LA spent on a single school. Unbelievable.

[Lightning Count]

30. If there is one thing we know, it's that more money spent equals better educated students. nt

[Psephos]

32. You forgot the sarcasm thingy. ;) n/t

[Lightning Count]

33. I didn't know how to put it on.

But I thought it was pretty obvious :).

[Psephos]

34. lol it was n/t

[bemildred]

36. $137,619 per student. How many teachers would that hire?

Something like 2 or 3 per student? We could have a 2 to 1 teacher student ratio, lots more jobs for teachers, and instead we have this pile of concrete.

[Doremus]

40. Construction levy money can't be used for salaries. nt

[bemildred]

41. Gee, I'll bet that could be fixed if we wanted to. nt

[JCMach1]

38. This was also about preserving a historic location that was going to be demolished

[slackmaster]

42. It was a sad historic location with environmental issues. They should have demolished it.

:argh:

[JCMach1]

43. Don't know about that, but the pricetag is certainly off the chain!

[slackmaster]

46. There were hazardous materials including asbestos and lead-based paint

The whole nine yards. All of that had to be encased or removed, not to mention seismic retrofit issues and fire code updates. It would have been a lot cheaper to demo the whole complex and build something completely new.

[Posteritatis]

44. Obligatory West Wing quote:

"Mallory, education is the silver bullet. Education is everything. We don't need little changes, we need gigantic, monumental changes. Schools should be palaces. The competition for the best teachers should be fierce. They should be making six-figure salaries. Schools should be incredibly expensive for government and absolutely free of charge to its citizens, just like national defense. That's my position. I just haven't figured out how to do it yet."

[Name removed]

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