CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / LOS ANGELES

Los Angeles Unified School District officials Tuesday approved $140.6 million in budget cuts, but postponed a more difficult decision that could have cost thousands of jobs. At a packed meeting marked by demonstrations and impassioned speeches, the Board of Education acted on only one of two measures recommended by Supt. Ramon C. Cortines.

The one that passed without dissent balances the books for L.A. Unified’s current school year, in part by using new legal flexibility to transfer money originally set aside for other purposes. The school system will also rent fewer buildings, among other measures, to fill holes in the nearly $6-billion budget.

But the board and Cortines postponed a decision on $596.1 million in additional cuts for next year that Cortines had previously described as requiring quick action.

Employee groups and parents have been pressuring board members over more than 8,500 potential job losses as well as the larger class sizes and reduced services that would result.

Facing a reluctant school board, Cortines offered more time to explore alternative solutions, which probably would mean unpaid days off or outright pay cuts, he said.

Such measures would require concessions from employee unions. Some unions are ready to discuss furloughs to save jobs, but the teachers union is not. Its leaders said that new, one-time federal stimulus funds and other actions could cure the deficit.

The board will reconsider the matter April 14.

-- Howard Blume