Taking control – A parent-led initiative seeks to end decades of financial instability for Manhattan Beach Unified School District
Councilperson Joe Franklin makes his case against Measure A. Photo by Kevin Cody by Mark McDermott Manhattan Beach is among the best-known cities, for its size, in the United States. The city is known for its idyllic beaches, beautiful weather, iconic pier, and its well-to-do, occasionally famous citizenry. But among the thousands of families who have moved here in the last two decades, a period during which nearly two-thirds of the town’s population of 36,000 has turned over, Manhattan Beach has been best known for its schools. The Manhattan Beach Unified School District is academically one of the highest-performing school districts in California, while U.S. News & World Report ranked Mira Costa as among the top two percent of high schools in the nation. What makes this achievement extraordinary is that MBUSD is one of the most poorly funded school districts, not only in the state, but in the nation. California itself has a chronically underfunded education system, ranking 41st in the United States in terms of per-pupil funding and 49th in terms of teacher-to-student ratio. Within California, MBUSD receives less public funding than all but one other school district, Piedmont…
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