A Teary Farewell for Anton : Education: The superintendent, on his last day on the job, tells well-wishers that the schools will survive the current fiscal crisis. He urges them to rise above ethnic divisions.

In an emotional farewell Wednesday, Los Angeles schools chief Bill Anton told co-workers that the mammoth school system he served for more than 40 years will survive its current fiscal crisis, and urged them to rise above the ethnic divisions that could tear it apart.

Anton’s parting words followed a teary salute from schoolchildren, board members and district staff who presented the district’s first Latino superintendent with commendations, poetry and music.

“We will get over this current crisis,” Anton told a packed boardroom on his last day as superintendent. “We have the opportunity to reunite and rededicate ourselves to the betterment of education.”

Anton’s stunning resignation, announced last week, comes at a time of unprecedented tensions within the school district as officials struggle to soften employee pay cuts proposed to make up a $400-million budget shortfall.

The sudden void in leadership has triggered an escalating debate over who should fill the post until June 30, when Anton’s contract would have expired. Latino activists contend that his successor should be Deputy Supt. Ruben Zacarias, a Latino, arguing that he would best serve a district with a student population that is 65% Latino.

But a majority of school board members have voiced support for Sid Thompson, an African-American, who as the district’s second in command runs the school system’s daily operations and has often filled in when Anton was absent.

The board has said it wants to appoint an interim superintendent to serve while a nationwide search is conducted for a permanent chief. The interim choice was expected to be made Wednesday, but board members said the decision will now probably not be announced until next Monday.

Some board members attributed the delay to the urgency of finalizing its budget, which must be adopted by Friday.

Anton, who says both Thompson and Zacarias are qualified, addressed the prospect of ethnic conflict, saying the district should not allow such tensions to defeat its primary purpose--educating children.

“Diversity isn’t easy,” Anton said. “It means we have many more people to respond to. (But) I believe diversity is a strength, and this city is going to show America the way.”

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Rita Walters--a former school board member--who joined school board President Leticia Quezada in presenting a resolution to Anton, told the board that it should not allow ethnic tensions to fester by delaying its decision.

“I don’t want this issue of the superintendent to boil down to an issue of African-American versus Latino,” said Walters, who supports Thompson for the interim position. “We must work together.”

The farewell ceremony kicked off a board meeting called to hear testimony on the drastic pay cuts proposed for the district’s 58,000 full-time workers. The meeting followed a morning rally by the California School Employees Assn. to demand equity in the pay cuts, which they fear will hurt them more than teachers.

United Teachers-Los Angeles and district negotiators had set today as the deadline to conclude contract negotiations, though discussions will most likely continue beyond that date, officials said.

UTLA, which has campaigned heavily against the proposed pay cuts, is awaiting the district’s final offer, said union President Helen Bernstein. The offer will be presented to the union’s Board of Directors and House of Representatives, which will make a recommendation to the full membership or can choose to make no recommendation at all. The membership will make the final decision on whether to accept the offer and, ultimately, whether teachers should go out on strike.

Union leaders have threatened to strike over the pay cuts which, as initially proposed, would have slashed teachers’ pay 17% below what they earned two years ago. District officials say the proposed pay cut for teachers and most other district employees has been reduced to about 10% after the board tentatively approved cuts in other budget areas and received extra state funds.