Marchers Ask Tax Hikes for Schools, Social Services : Revenue: Group calling itself the Unusual Coalition protests cuts in jobs, public benefits.

Thousands of people from education groups, who sometimes have divergent interests, marched shoulder-to-shoulder Tuesday at the offices of Los Angeles-area legislators in support of state tax increases to bolster school funding and a variety of social services.

Calling their union the Unusual Coalition, groups of parents, teachers, administrators, school board members and classified workers ranging from several dozen to more than 1,000 held rallies to protest the loss of $2 billion over two years as a result of the looming state deficit.

“We believe that this is a very rich state . . . and by raising revenues, even a very small amount . . . we would be able to fund an investment in education at a proper rate as well as to provide for the other needs of the population,” Jackie Goldberg, president of the Los Angeles Board of Education, told more than 1,000 people outside the office of state Senate President David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles).

Even though school districts are desperate--the Los Angeles Unified School District, for example, is planning to cut as much as $317 million from its projected budget for next year--Goldberg and others said all health and welfare services need additional revenue.

Many districts are laying off veteran teachers, demoting administrators and cutting deeply into the ranks of librarians, school nurses, psychologists, janitors and others, some of whom showed up at area rallies. Helen Bernstein, president of United Teachers-Los Angeles, and others said the coalition is not suggesting any specific taxes.

More than 200 people crowded a narrow hallway outside the Northridge field office of Sen. Ed Davis, (R-Santa Clarita). Hunt Braly, a Davis aide, said that the senator favors spending more on education but that school districts need the power to raise revenue themselves.

Those who marched at the office of Assemblyman Patrick J. Nolan (R-Glendale), also heard their plea for more taxes rebuffed and were instead urged to press for preservation of Proposition 98.

Many education groups oppose Gov. Pete Wilson’s plan to suspend temporarily the provisions of Proposition 98, the measure passed by voters in 1988 to guarantee public education 40% of the state’s spending.

Cecelia Mansfield, president of the San Fernando Valley-area district of the Parent-Teachers Assn., said merely maintaining the protections of Proposition 98 is inadequate. “Forty percent of a greatly reduced amount is not enough,” she said.

Walker Williams, who chairs the South Bay United Teachers Union, told demonstrators at the Torrance office of Assemblyman Gerald N. Felando (R-San Pedro): “We want legislators to hear that education should be a priority.”

Pam Richards, a parent who visited the office of Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica), called students “our future presidents, politicians. . . . If you want to get gangs and drugs off the street, you’ve got to put more money in education.”

Times staff writers Mayerene Barker, George Hatch, Barbara Koh, Anthony Millican, John Rivera, Rod Wade and Mike Ward contributed to this story.