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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  153
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.
It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that with the decline in student enrollment,________.
选项 A、students’ holidays will be extended by 17 days
B、students are more likely to take advanced classes
C、schools will not have to be open all year round
D、there will be fewer kindergartens and schools
答案B
解析 推断题。根据题干可定位至第二段。第二句说students on staggered schedules that provided 17 fewer days of instruction per year and limited access to advanced classes(学生们不得不错开时间上课，每年的教学天数减少了17天，而且进入高级课程的机会有限)，由此可知，学校人数过多导致学生难以进入高级课程，选项B是对此的合理推断，故正确。A项属于主观臆断，文中未提到假期长短问题，第二段第二句说目前学生数量多，教学天数减少17天，由此可推知，人数减少后教学天数也许更多，故排除该选项。C项属于主观臆断，原文说当前学校全年开放，不能明确推断出学生人数减少后的情况，故排除。D项属于主观臆断，第二段最后一句说幼儿园和学校人数预计今后9年将以每年约3. 6％的速度下降至30. 9万人，学生数量减少不能等同于学校数量减少，故排除该选项。故本题答案为B项。
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