Teachers’ Proposals Attacked : Education: Union’s plan to cut costs and reorganize the district are called unfair by other employee groups, which say it shifts burden to lowest-paid workers.

Two months after offering its proposals to cut costs and reorganize the Los Angeles Unified School District, the teachers union got its chance to air the ideas at a special hearing Thursday.

But many of the proposals were attacked as unfair by other employee groups, and some others were shot down by district officials who said they had looked into them.

“They have drafted proposals that shift the burden and pain to other working people in this district who have lower-paying jobs and in many cases no health benefits,” said special education assistant Janett Humphries.

The hearing came as a business-backed reform coalition was preparing to announce its formation of an independent task force to examine the 640,000-student district’s financial condition.

The Los Angeles Educational Alliance for Restructuring Now was scheduled to discuss its commission, to be headed by former state Atty Gen. John K. Van de Kamp, at a news conference this morning.

And at an earlier session Thursday, a majority of Board of Education members angrily said they will refuse to meet a state-imposed Sept. 1 deadline for adopting a 1992-93 budget unless the state comes up with a spending package.

The developments provided dramatic examples of the bitterness and anxiety that have gripped the district after four years of budget-cutting. It has slashed more than $1.2 billion, and it will likely need to slice more from its current $3.88-billion spending package once the state resolves its budget stalemate.

In tentatively approving a budget in June, school board members decided to sharply reduce employees’ pay to avoid layoffs and deep program cuts. During contract negotiations under way, all employees are being asked to take unpaid days off, and pay cuts of up to 10.5% are slated this year for all but the lowest-paid workers.

United Teachers-Los Angeles, calculating that the 35,000 teachers and others it represents would see paychecks shrink by at least 17%, angrily denounced district officials. The union came up with an alternative plan it said would save at least $245 million, enough to avert any compensation loss.

But that plan has drawn fire from groups representing the rest of the district’s 58,000 employees, who have accused UTLA of sacrificing other workers to save teachers’ jobs and salaries.

“Rather than work collectively with the various stake holders in the LAUSD to work out humane and equitable solutions to this terrible deficit, UTLA’s leadership has decided to act alone,” said Humphries, one of scores of office workers, plumbers, custodians, principals and others who packed Thursday’s hearings to decry the UTLA plan.

UTLA leaders have repeatedly denied such allegations, arguing that their plan would eliminate the need for any employee to lose pay or be laid off.

Among its features is a plan for paring down central administration by reorganizing the district into 35 “educational communities,” which would be supported by administrators in four areas--technology and communications, planning, legal/compliance, and reform, research and development. It also calls for state and local tax increases for schools.

But it is UTLA’s recommendations for short-term ways to ease the district out of its fiscal crunch that has drawn the heaviest fire from other employees. Among them are proposals to:

* Disband the district’s police force for one year and have the Los Angeles Police Department take over the work and absorb the $25 million cost.

* Impose a one-year freeze on teacher hiring and put higher-paid credentialed employees in the vacancies.

* Request the county Office of Education to pick up the district’s $5 million annual costs for preparing the district’s payroll and the $163 million the district spends on special education programs beyond what is provided by the state. County officials have said they cannot afford to assume these costs. District budget officials said the state would reduce the district’s allotment should it palm off the costs on another entity.

* Achieve a one-year, 25% reduction of non-credentialed employees not assigned to school sites. UTLA said that could be done without layoffs, but district officials said attrition or reassignment alone cannot produce that result.

* For this school year, allow no employee to earn more than the highest-paid teacher on the salary schedule (about $52,000 for a 10-month school year).

Board member Barbara Boudreaux attacked the plan because she said it would most affect the largely minority employees who hold the lowest-paying jobs. But several board members praised UTLA for working hard to find alternatives and pleaded for unity between employee groups and the district administration.