Parcel tax to benefit LA schools defeated at polls

A parcel tax that would have funneled about $380 million to the financially strapped Los Angeles Unified School District has been defeated at the polls.

Nearly 53 percent of voters approved the $100-a-year tax on Tuesday, but it needed a two-thirds majority to pass.

The measure would have reaped about $95 million a year for four years for the nation's second-largest school district, which is facing a projected budget shortfall of $640 million.

Twenty-nine school districts in California placed parcel taxes on the ballot last year. Twenty passed.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press