Teachers Pact Deadlocked Over Funds

The final resolution of the Los Angeles Unified School District teachers contract has reached a stalemate, with increasingly frustrated school officials refusing to ratify the pact until Assembly Speaker Willie Brown makes good on his pledge to secure $36 million to pay for it.

Tensions were exacerbated this week by a telegram Brown sent to teachers union officials Wednesday in which he said district officials told him the board would ratify the contract Monday.

In a sternly written reply to Brown, Supt. Sid Thompson said Thursday that he was puzzled by the statement. “That has never been our understanding, nor is it consistent with the position taken by us publicly and privately.”

Meanwhile, state Secretary of Child Development and Education Maureen DiMarco said Thursday that Gov. Pete Wilson will veto any legislation that Brown proposes to enable the district to dip into restricted funds to pay for the deal.

“The governor isn’t going to sign that legislation because it’s going to guarantee a bankruptcy,” DiMarco said.

Both sides asked Brown to mediate the contract dispute and forged the agreement in late February, winning overwhelming teacher approval and averting a strike. The contact calls for the district to cut teachers’ salaries by a cumulative 10% instead of 12% and gives teachers more power to choose their class assignments. The cuts took effect in November.

United Teachers-Los Angeles President Helen Bernstein said the union is prepared to sue the district if the 2% repayment is not made in the April or May paychecks.

“There is absolutely no reason that this board cannot meet this commitment,” Bernstein said. She insisted the contract became final when the school board endorsed the contract Feb. 22 and that the district cannot stall the deal.

Thompson said the district’s financial shape has worsened since the deal was forged and the district would be plunged into bankruptcy if the board repays the 2% to teachers. Two weeks ago, the district reported a possible $60-million midyear shortfall, which includes the cost of the teachers contract and $15 million in state funding that may not come through.

“The board has never promised to put the district into insolvency by adopting a settlement without the necessary promised financial resources,” Thompson said in the letter to Brown.

Brown did not return phone calls seeking comment Thursday.

His spokeswoman, Darolyn Davis, said the Speaker “has not reneged on his part of the deal at any point. He produced a contract and both sides agreed on it.” She said there is nothing in the contract that makes the board’s final approval contingent on Brown securing funds and that the Speaker believes the board should give it the final go-ahead.

“It doesn’t mean that he will not assist in helping them meet their financial obligations,” Davis said.

Under state law, the school district is required to submit the labor contract to the Los Angeles County Office of Education. County Supt. Stuart Gothold has 10 days to decide whether it is financially sound. Only after he makes his recommendation can the board give final ratification.

Brown had directed the board to use its $30-million emergency reserve account to pay the teachers, comparing the threat of a strike to a disaster such as an earthquake. He vowed to help them secure a waiver from the State Board of Education to designate restricted funds for textbooks and supplies as the emergency reserve.

“I of course will shepherd any waivers that might be necessary in case of a cash flow problem,” Brown said at a Feb. 27 news conference to announce the accord. “I have said to the board you have Willie Brown as your guarantor. I’m your cash reserve.”

Thompson said it was those and similar statements that led the board to believe that “there were certain things (Brown) would do to carry out his proposal. The understanding was clearly we expected that the money would be found before we had to put up the 2%.”

The district contends that it needs a waiver or legislation to use the restricted funds immediately to stay solvent, but Brown has said he is not prepared to seek them now. Rick Simpson, Brown’s education adviser, has said it would be premature to call for such action before the end of the fiscal year. Gothold said he is not convinced that raiding the accounts will keep the district from going bankrupt because of uncertainties over how the growing state deficit will affect education funding. He ordered officials to submit another financial plan by April 15.

DiMarco said she believes the State Board of Education has no jurisdiction to grant the waivers.

“The two questions are: ‘Where is Willie Brown and where is the money?’ ” DiMarco said. “It doesn’t appear Willie wants to answer any of them. . . . He needs to stand up and tell us where the money is going to come from.”