SACRAMENTO—Assemblymember Curren D. Price, Jr. has been working for months on helping schools in his district get the funds that they need. In March of this year, Assemblymember Price held an emergency informational meeting for local school superintendents, principals and teachers to hear expert advice from Sacramento- based education consultant Steve Rhoads on applying for Quality Education Investment Act (QEIA) funds.

“With teamwork and the willingness to come together and share information, we have been able to fund some of our neediest schools. I am proud of the months of hard work and cooperation that have made for successful, local education funding.”

After the Assemblymember’s informational workshop, which provided detailed timelines for QEIA funds, explanations of the application process, and even application assistance, many of the area’s historically under- funded and under- performing school districts were able to apply for Quality Education Investment Act (QEIA) funds before the deadline.

To ensure that the Compton Unified School District made the application deadline, for example, Deputy Superintendent Robert Nero made the effort to personally fly to Sacramento to hand- deliver their application accurately and on time. As a result of his efforts, Compton Unified School District alone will receive over $47 million dollars for fourteen schools over the next seven years (some of those fourteen schools in the Compton Unified School District that received funds are not within the 51st Assembly District).

The Quality Education Investment Act (QEIA) was passed last year as part of a lawsuit filed by State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell and the California Teacher’s Association against Governor Schwarzenegger and the California Department of Finance for failing to properly fund Proposition 98 in the 2004-05 and the 2005-06 budget years. The Act provides $2.7 billion over seven years to selected low- performing schools.

While there may be specific requirements that the chosen schools must meet in order to continue to receive the seven annual QEIA awards, including the implementation of class- size reduction, the monies are not earmarked for specific purposes by the State. Therefore, these schools will largely be able to direct the awarded funds into the projects and plans that are most individually needed, such as books and supplies, building upgrades, or more innovative education programs.

Schools who ultimately received awards were chosen through a complex system that was based on applications, recommendations, priority ranking by school districts, and finally, by a statewide lottery system.

“This is a blessed day for the schools who will receive these funds,” said Assemblymember Price. “Our schoolchildren deserve the best education that we can offer, and having adequate funds can help to achieve that goal. I only wish that all of our schools could have been awarded funds.”

The following is a list of schools within the 51st Assembly District that will receive funding, along with the amounts that they will receive over the next seven years:

Compton Unified School District

Carver Elementary                                           $   1,582,212

Enterprise Middle School                                 $   3,691,827

McKinley Elementary                                       $   2,151,097

Vanguard Learning Center                             $   3,211,830

Inglewood Unified School District

Crozier Junior High                                          $   6,779,214

Lennox Unified School District

Felton Elementary                                          $   2,729,200

Jefferson Elementary                                      $   3,568,700

Lennox Middle School                                     $ 12,331,770

Moffett Elementary School                              $   4,167,876

Los Angeles Unified School District

Clay Middle School                                          $  10,429,560

One Hundred Fifty-Third Street School           $    2,378,914

Peary Middle School                                        $  14,879,901

                                                                Total: $  67,902,101

Assemblymember Price serves the 51st Assembly District, which includes Inglewood, Hawthorne, Gardena, Playa Vista, Westchester, Lawndale, West Athens, Lennox, Alondra Park, West Compton, Del Aire, and Willowbrook, as well as portions of the unincorporated area of Ladera.