DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) settled a class action lawsuit Wednesday with parents over learning loss suffered by students during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
The lawsuit, filed by several parents of LAUSD children in 2020, alleged the district’s remote learning model failed to properly educate children and left them years behind their peers. LAUSD agreed to provide over 100,000 students who were most affected by COVID learning loss, such as those testing below benchmarks by a full grade level or more, with a minimum of 45 hours of tutoring per year.
The district will also offer additional academic support and summer school options as well as additional yearly teacher training, per the settlement, which has not yet been approved by the court.
LAUSD did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
Students across the nation were greatly impacted by the shutting down of schools during the COVID lockdowns, with 2024 data proving disastrous results. Less than one third of students in grades four and eight nationwide are proficient in reading, and fewer than half of students in both grades are meeting benchmarks in math, according to the Nation’s Report Card.
In the Los Angeles Unified School District specifically, only 43% of students proved proficiency in reading in 2024, and only 32.8% scored proficient in math. In the 2020-2021 school year, LAUSD represented about 550,000 students.
The original lawsuit alleged LAUSD teachers during COVID often failed to provide any instruction to children beyond checking the students turned in their work. Several parents also complained they were unable to connect to the online platform at times.
Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation