Proposition 28 arts funding at center of dispute over LAUSD spending

Дата публикации: 19-08-2026 20:23:50

California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 28 in 2022 with a promise: provide nearly $1 billion annually for arts and music education in public schools across the state.
In many districts, the money has translated into new music programs, arts classes and performances. But the measure’s author — businessman, philanthropist and former Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner — says the LAUSD has failed to use the funding as voters intended.
That dispute has led Beutner to sue the LAUSD, alleging the district improperly used Prop 28 money for purposes other than expanding arts education at individual schools.
“The arts matter,” Beutner said. “They matter particularly for kids.”
Prop 28 provides dedicated funding for arts and music instruction in California public schools. Beutner says the law requires schools to use much of that money to hire additional educators and provide arts instruction that would not otherwise have been available.
“LA Unified may have thought they were above the law and wanted to use the money for something else,” Beutner said. “Every school is supposed to use the money to hire teachers and provide arts classes at that school.”
The LAUSD has maintained in court that it has complied with the law.
Some district students, however, say they have yet to see the level of investment they expected.
“As a student, I would expect LAUSD to offer the art supplies instead of having art teachers use their own money or asking for donations from the community,” said 16-year-old LAUSD student Emma-Lee Del Hierro.
Noah Martinez, 13, said he hopes more opportunities will be available as he gets older.
“I’m definitely looking forward to being in high school and having art as a class,” Martinez said.
Beutner points to research showing participation in arts and music education can improve student engagement and academic performance. He has continued advocating for Prop 28 amid a profound personal loss.
In January, Beutner’s 22-year-old daughter, Emily, a student at Loyola Marymount University, died of a drug overdose.
“Our lives have changed,” Beutner said. “As a family, we are there for each other. We are trying to keep our lives, a sense of purpose and find joy. But I’d be misleading if I said, ‘Here I am today, and it’s not part of me every day.’ It is. It just is.”
Beutner said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who also lost a daughter as a young adult, spoke with him about grief.
“She said you become a member of a club you don’t want to be a member of,” he recalled.
His daughter had wanted to become an art teacher, Beutner said, giving his advocacy for arts education an added personal meaning.
“She wanted to be an art teacher,” he said. “Maybe there is a little bit of her in me with Prop 28.”

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