Los Angeles Unified School District must eliminate more than 6,000 positions over three years after a state fiscal oversight team labeled the district "high risk" for insolvency.

California's Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) presented its findings to the LAUSD school board on Tuesday, Oct. 6, the Los Angeles Times first reported. The district currently employs about 80,000 full- and part-time workers, meaning roughly one in 13 jobs is on the line.

The planned cuts hit hardest at schools serving the neediest students. Ending $500 million in extra funding for high-need campuses would account for 4,500 of the lost positions, according to earlier Times reporting. Another $30 million in savings would come from closing school buildings. The district also plans to draw down $175 million from a trust fund for retiree health benefits.

FCMAT blamed the crisis on a mismatch between spending and enrollment. Between the 2019-20 and 2024-25 school years, enrollment fell from 440,365 to 369,830 students, a drop of about 16%. Full-time-equivalent jobs grew 6.3% over the same period, fueled by pandemic relief dollars that have since dried up.

Special education costs alone jumped from $957.1 million in 2023-24 to $1.49 billion in 2025-26.

The district also sits on far more classroom space than it needs. LAUSD's 2025-26 enrollment of 353,065 fills only about 49% of its capacity for roughly 718,475 students. Of 738 campuses, 481 operate at or below 60% capacity.

Board member Nick Melvoin acknowledged the bind at the Oct. 6 meeting. "The board is dealing with tough decisions. We get squeezed either way," Melvoin said, as quoted by the Times. Board member Karla Griego pressed on the human cost, asking how the district balances budget numbers against student needs. No board members challenged the high-risk designation.

United Teachers Los Angeles pushed back. In a memo to board members, UTLA Vice President Julie Van Winkle called the FCMAT report a "fake independent analysis" that implicitly faulted the board for raising employee wages in a city with some of the country's highest housing and childcare costs. The union argued FCMAT's own data placed LAUSD at "moderate risk" before county officials made what UTLA called subjective conclusions that elevated the rating.

Most of the cuts are backloaded toward the end of the three-year plan, sparing classrooms for now. But some elements require union agreement, including unpaid furlough days. If unions reject furloughs, the district would need equivalent cuts elsewhere, potentially adding layoffs.

The Los Angeles County Office of Education conditionally approved LAUSD's $20.6 billion budget for 2026-27 but required the district to submit an implementation timeline and updated cash-flow projections by Thursday, Oct. 8. The county superintendent must make a final budget determination by Nov. 9.

In a worst-case scenario, LAUSD's deficit could balloon to $3.5 billion by June 30, 2029, according to FCMAT. Outgoing FCMAT chief Michael Fine told the board he applauded the district's focus on fair wages but urged alignment: "The point would be know what it costs — and align."