L.A. Unified clerks must do Windows

That's a tall order for McIntyre, who's spent almost six years entering data by hand for the district's transportation department and has rarely used a computer during her career. Her son gave her one several years ago, but she mainly used it to surf the Internet and watch soap operas before it stopped working and she never replaced it.

McIntyre has been taking computer classes four times a week to prepare for the test, but she isn't sure if she can make up enough ground before today's test.

"She's really cramming, but she needs a little more time," said Ellena Anderson, an instructor at the Venice Skills Center who teaches McIntyre on Mondays and Wednesdays. "I wish I could take it for her."

As daunting as the upcoming test appears, it isn't unexpected. The district cut nearly $400 million from its budget in June, eliminating nearly 500 positions. The Board of Education wanted to keep cuts away from classrooms, so about half of the jobs lost were clerical, including 40 positions from the transportation department. At the same time, the district has been trying to automate its record-keeping.

Connie Moreno, a labor relations representative, said she knew this day was coming when the district implemented an expensive computer program last year to manage its complex payroll system. Although it was a fiasco, with thousands of employees being paid the wrong amount or not at all, Moreno said the writing was on the wall.

"I begged them to take computer classes," said Moreno, who sent a flier to her California School Employees Assn. members that read "Don't wait until you find a layoff notice in your mailbox."

"The secretaries of yesterday are gone," she said, "even in L.A. Unified."

With her hip sunglasses and fashionable retro half-boots -- "I think I got them in the 1970s," she said -- McIntyre doesn't look 61, much less 71. But, in any case, she says, "I'm too old for computers."

It didn't help that her district job entailed logging bus drivers' hours by hand in a small ledger. Virtually all of the test-takers worked for the transportation department, one of the least technology-reliant departments in the district.

Michele Bryant, 43, who also works as a transportation clerk and is due to take her test soon, said she has never had to use a computer. Although she has one at home, "I just use it for solitaire," Bryant said.

When McIntyre heard earlier this month that her job was in danger, she signed up for computer literacy courses in Gardena and Venice.

On a recent Wednesday, she took a seat at one of the 18 computers in Anderson's classroom. McIntyre quickly ran into problems when she tried to organize a column, but Anderson already was working with one of the other six students.

McIntyre leaned back in her chair.

"Teacher," she whispered. "Teacher, hey. Miss Anderson. . . . "

Finally, one of the other students came over to help, clicking a few buttons to make the column line up. "You have to go to 'preview,' then 'set up,' " she told McIntyre.

"Oh, you're so good," she replied as she scribbled notes.

Then McIntyre got off on the wrong foot when she started typing a letter.

"What's the first thing you do?" Anderson asked her. After McIntyre fumbled for the answer, Anderson told her to hit the "enter" button six times.