Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1544915
Students and community members protested the closure of multiple Inglewood schools in 2024. Courtesy NBCLA 5 Relief for school communities with emergency state loans A total of nine California school districts have received state emergency loans due to severe cash shortages. In recent years, districts that have required such apportionments include Plumas Unified ($8.5 million in 2025), Inglewood Uni- fied ($29 million in 2012) and South Monterey County Joint Union High ($13 million in 2009). A handful of districts in the 1990s and early 2000s, such as Vallejo and Oakland, also required significant support. A state emergency loan comes with state receivership and involves rigorous state and county oversight, loss of local control, painful restructuring and cuts, extra expenses in pay- ing off the loan, and other conditions that last for years. Debt repayments can cripple what districts are able to spend on today's students. For example, West Contra Costa Unified was the first dis- trict to receive a bailout after AB 1200 was passed in 1991 to ensure districts' fiscal accountability and prevent insolvency. While WCCUSD received $28.5 million in 1991, it took 21 years for the district to pay off the loan, plus $19 million in interest and fees. As a result, then-school board member Madeline Cronen- berg told local news outlets, "thousands and thousands of children were unable to get what other districts provided." Our union believes school districts struggling with finan- cial health should be supported, not burdened with debt for decades, and that emergency loan repayment traps school communities in a vicious cycle of paying off debt while strug- gling to invest in students today. Inglewood Unified (IUSD) pays about $400,000 a year in interest on its emergency loan, the Inglewood County administrator recently told The LA Local. " That's $400,000 that children who are in our schools today don't have the opportunity to benefit from because the children today are paying for mistakes from the past." As it tries to meet standards to exit state receivership, IUSD has slashed budgets and shuttered multiple schools. Meanwhile, enrollment has plummeted, from 18,000 stu- dents in the early 2000s to fewer than 7,000 today, and test scores, graduation rates, attendance and other metrics have declined. In December 2025, Inglewood Teachers Association (ITA) and the ACLU submitted a formal complaint asking the state attorney general to investigate the "sweeping school closures and state receivership harms." "For over a decade, students and families in Inglewood have endured state mismanagement and broken promises that have exacerbated decreases in enrollment and school closures," said John Hughes, president of ITA and a parent, in the complaint. " The procrastination, indifference, and ignoring of basic fundamental educational foundations can no longer be withstood. Our students' rights to a free and appropriate public education must be safeguarded. There is academic, psychological, and now physical harm from safety issues, and our children deserve better." More than 80% of IUSD students are socioeconomically disadvantaged, and in fact, districts that have declared insol- vency overwhelmingly serve students of color. Several that have paid off their loans, such as Oakland Unified and Vallejo City Unified, continue to struggle financially. It's time to provide relief for students and communities affected by state emergency loans and invest in students today. We are asking policymakers to • Establish a pathway to loan forgiveness; district debt repayment unfairly penalizes students who have nothing to do with the problem • Ensure that money spent on debt repayment and interest is not a burden on today 's students • Safeguard future generations from paying the price for the district's fiscal crisis • Not impose punitive fiscal measures on affected districts 42 cta.org Feature