LAUSD: Stop the bleeding

In a bid to save thousands of jobs and preserve school programs, Los Angeles Unified officials began negotiating an "emergency budget plan" with employee unions this week that could save the district up to $304 million. Commie Llanis in the Daily News.

Drafted by incoming LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy, the plan would ask most district employees to take up to 12 furlough days next year, a move that would require cutting the school calendar by a week for the third year in a row.

The plan also suggests borrowing from other district accounts, including from LAUSD's health and welfare benefits reserve and unused workers' compensation funds.