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Enrollment in Los Angeles public schools is expected to plunge by nearly 30％ over the next decade, leading to tough choices ahea

admin2022-12-09  146
问题     Enrollment in Los Angeles public schools is expected to plunge by nearly 30％ over the next decade, leading to tough choices ahead about academic programs, campus closures, jobs and employee benefits—and forcing, over that time, a dramatic remake of the nation’s second-largest school system. The predicted steep drop, which was outlined Tuesday in a presentation to the Board of Education, comes as school officials contemplate the future of Los Angeles Unified School District on several crucial fronts—including contract negotiations with the teachers union, which is seeking a 20％ raise over the next two years.
    Enrollment has been incrementally dropping in L.A. Unified since peaking at about 737,000 students 21 years ago. That long-ago overcrowding detracted from the quality and even quantity of education—as campuses operated year-round with students on staggered schedules that provided 17 fewer days of instruction per year and limited access to advanced classes. The current enrollment is about 430,000 in kindergarten through 12th grade and is expected to fall about 3.6％ a year to an estimated 309,000 nine years from now.
    The pace of the decline has accelerated since the pandemic, a phenomenon officials struggle to explain. At the start of the pandemic, many families kept preschoolers and kindergartners out of remote learning—preferring not to plant their children in front of computers for schooling. Yet the pace of decline has persisted even with the resumption of in-person classes. Experts have offered no conclusive explanation, but factors include families moving to more affordable areas, the decline in birth rates, a drop in immigration and, until recently, the rapid growth of charter schools.
    Problems related to the enrollment drop have already surfaced. A handful of campuses—despite their importance as community anchors—have closed or are projected to close. Or, the campuses have been offered to charter schools—which are not operated by the district and compete for students. Many charters are also facing enrollment challenges and some have shut down.
    Having fewer students creates financial strains because state and federal funding is based primarily on enrollment. It’s difficult to reduce fixed costs related to buildings and operations as the funding base shrinks. Moreover, decreased funding makes it more challenging to manage pension costs shared by all school systems as well as separate lifetime retiree health benefits that L.A. Unified has provided to long-term employees.
    In the coming years, under the current structure, there could be more L.A. Unified retirees and dependents receiving healthcare benefits than active employees, said Chief Financial Officer David Hart. "That was never contemplated," Hart said.
The drop of enrollment in Los Angeles public schools________.
选项 A、will bring challenges to the education industry
B、is predicted by the Board of Education
C、is transforming the school system of the U.S.
D、may intensify confrontation with teachers
答案A
解析 细节题。根据题干中的enrollment in Los Angeles public schools可定位至第一段。第一句说leading to tough choices ahead about academic programs，campus closures，jobs and employee benefits(这将使学术项目、校园关闭、工作和员工福利等方面面临艰难的选择)，这些都可以归属于教育行业遇到的困难，故A项正确。B项属于张冠李戴，教育委员会收到的报告涉及相关内容，而不是教育委员会自己进行预测，故排除。选项C属于时态混淆，根据第一段第一句可知，入学人数下降是对未来十年的预测，其影响也是将要发生的，而选项中使用的是现在进行时，故排除。D项属于主观臆断，第一段中说学校官员正在考虑未来与教师工会的合同谈判，因薪资进行谈判并不能算作对抗，也就谈不上“加剧”，故排除该选项。故本题答案为A项。
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