Most Expensive Public School in U.S. History to Open in Los Angeles. NBC News reports: "The most expensive public school complex ever built in the United States is about to open in Los Angeles. It's called the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools, and is the crown jewel of the Los Angeles Unified's massive construction campaign. When it opens, the 24-acre campus and the combination of six schools will have cost an estimated $578 million, by far the most expensive public school ever built."
The school is on the site of the former Ambassador Hotel, and preservationist groups demanded that the site's historic integrity be maintained. So the hotel's coffee shop was renovated into a faculty lounge and cafeteria, and the famed Cocoanut Grove nightclub was recreated with lighting fixtures and carpeting reminiscent of the 1930s. "Outside, a bank of flat-screen televisions with video loops will inform students of the history," NBC reported.
"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 and a member of the California Board of Education. "Parents aren't fooled."
The school complex follows on the heels of two other Los Angeles 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.
Officials said the schools were planned long before the recession began, and are funded by $20 billion in voter-approved bonds that do not affect the educational budget. The Associated Press reported: "Still, even LA Unified Superintendent Ramon Cortines derided some of the extravagance, noting that donations should have been sought to fund the RFK project's talking benches commemorating the site's history." (Sources: KSDK News, August 24; The Associated Press, August 22.)
Cal-TaxReports, August 30, 2010
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