In an effort to build a showcase performing and visual arts high school downtown, the Los Angeles Board of Education is considering an unusual fundraising agreement that includes a $5-million contribution from billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad.
Board members are scheduled to vote today on whether to partner with Discovering the Arts, a nonprofit organization formed to serve as the future school's fundraising arm. Broad has already committed the money to the group to help offset the high building and operating costs of the Grand Avenue campus.
The district anticipates the school will cost about $120 million, significantly more than previous estimates.
The agreement, which calls for the nonprofit group to pay the salary of an executive director and advise on the school's management, is uncharted territory for the Los Angeles Unified School District. Supporters of the plan have scrambled in recent weeks to assuage concerns of some board members and union leaders that the unusual relationship could threaten the district's control over the school.
"I think the lines of power are now clearly drawn," said local district Supt. Richard Alonzo, who has pushed strongly for the school. "As long as we remember that this is a school run by LAUSD."
The $5-million gift marks a return of sorts for Broad, who has been a generous donor to education issues but lately has had an uneven relationship with the district. Broad declined, for example, to support the district's successful campus construction bond campaign earlier this month. And, he has been supportive of the idea of mayoral control of urban school districts -- a concept Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has pushed vigorously in recent days.
Broad has continued to support some Los Angeles educational efforts, including at least $8 million for the district's after-school program, LA's BEST.
He has long advocated for an arts facility, similar to New York City's famed LaGuardia campus, to be built close to the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the other cultural facilities in the area.
In 2003, some district officials and watchdog groups questioned whether Broad had too much influence in the conception and lavish design of the public school.
"It was clear that I was a lightning rod," he said. "I backed away."
While district records and interviews with several officials at the time indicated that Broad played a significant behind-the-scenes role, an internal investigation found no wrongdoing on his part.
