Teachers Shielded From Cuts

As they launch a marathon round of budget-cutting today, Los Angeles Unified School District officials say they are determined not to lay off teachers.

Instead, as the district struggles with a projected deficit of well over $500 million, Supt. Roy Romer is recommending cutting central administration, trimming from the 11 local administrative subdistricts and eliminating jobs that would cut into such services as special education and school nursing.

The number of possible layoffs could total hundreds districtwide.

School board members will weigh the cuts over several days of special budget sessions. The sessions are scheduled to continue Friday and much of next week.

Romer has told the seven-member Board of Education that it needs to make some preliminary budget decisions earlier than usual this year, in part because the district must meet deadlines for notifying employees who may be laid off in the fiscal year that begins July 1.

He said the deepest cuts proportionally would fall in central and local district administration, which he says account for 8% of the district’s budget. In addition to opposing layoffs of teachers, Romer said, his budget proposal will allow for hiring more teachers as needed.

Under Romer’s recommendations, for example, the environmental health and safety division would lose 12 managerial and technical positions to save $1 million a year.

Health and human services would lose 21 positions, including nine school nurses and a school physician.