KLCS-TV in Los Angeles is conducting the first fundraising drive ever in its 40-plus year history, hoping to replace $1.4 million for fiscal 2012-13 cut from its $4.6 million budget by its licensee, the Los Angeles Unified School District, reports the Los Angeles Daily News. The newspaper said a text-to-give campaign begins this week, with a goal to raise $100,000 by November, when a traditional pledge drive will start.
Previously, the school district had provided $2.8 million, Los Angeles County gave $150,000 and the remainder of the budget came from CPB and other philanthropic and government grants. The cash-strapped school district currently is in the midst of public hearings over its recent decision to lay off some 9,500 teachers.
The PBS affiliate broadcasts from 6 a.m.to 1 a.m. Its programming includes educational shows (Homework Hotline, College Buzz) PBS fare (Sesame Street, Downton Abbey), coverage of school board and county Board of Supervisors meetings, and original shows about district programs and classes. The station is one of three in the Los Angeles market — along with PBS SoCal/KOCE and KVCR — collaborating in the wake of KCET’s departure (Current, Dec. 12, 2011).