Officials to Seek Lifting of Stay on Teacher Pact : Schools: State’s release of $35 million allows district, union attorneys to attempt to clear an order blocking the board from ratifying the contract.

Armed with a check for $35.1 million from the state, Los Angeles school district and teachers union attorneys will go to court today seeking to clear the way for the school board to ratify the teachers’ contract.

State Controller Gray Davis on Tuesday released the $35 million in state desegregation funds to help the district pay for the contract, which restores 2% of a cumulative 12% salary cut. Attorneys on both sides said they can now ask a Superior Court judge to lift an order that blocked the board from approving the pact until adequate funds were found.

Joel Fox, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., which challenged the contract in court last week, said Tuesday that he “is optimistic things will be right” and that the suit can be dropped today.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Diane Wayne had temporarily sided with the Jarvis group, which charged the pact violated state law and constitutional prohibitions restricting local governments from spending more money than they have.

Repaying the 2% in salaries will cost $36 million this year, funds the district said it did not have. Officials had been relying on Assembly Speaker Willie Brown to make good on his promise to find the money.

Meanwhile, United Teachers-Los Angeles President Helen Bernstein said she will not stop balloting that will probably authorize a May 7 strike if the union’s hard-won contract is not signed by school board President Leticia Quezada by then. “Until I see Leticia Quezada’s signature on that contract, I cannot assume we have a real and final contract,” Bernstein said at a news conference with Davis at Taft High School in Woodland Hills Tuesday morning.

If the restraining order is lifted today, Quezada said the board will approve the contract Monday, at last ending a remarkable seven months of turmoil, which pushed the school district to the brink of insolvency and a potentially crippling teachers strike, and caused unprecedented labor strife.

Bernstein called on the district to ratify the agreement within 24 hours of receiving court clearance. Quezada did not say whether she would call such a meeting.

Davis urged the district to act quickly. “I do share Helen’s concerns that the contract be signed as soon as possible. In Sacramento there’s the old adage: ‘If you have the votes, then call for the question.’ ”

It was the political influence of Brown, who forged the contract agreement after both sides deadlocked, that opened the door to the state controller’s office.

“It helps enormously when the Speaker picks up the phone and says, ‘Controller, you are going to get some bills from L.A. Unified and I’d appreciate it if you’d give it your prompt attention,”’ said Davis, like Brown, a Democrat.

The district submitted $65 million in claims for unspent desegregation money from the 1991-92 school year. Davis refunded claims associated with money the district spends to operate schools involved in its court-supervised desegregation program.

The requests covered $17.2 million for security officers, $12.1 million for nursing services, $8.7 million for special education programs at children’s centers, and $4.2 million for utilities--expenses that Davis said are legally permissible under state law. The state reimburses 80%.

District Supt. Sid Thompson said the district did not apply for the funds sooner because in years past auditors had rejected similar claims. But, he noted Tuesday, “with the help of the Speaker there has been a reappraisal, and it is a subjective reappraisal.”

Davis said that his approval of the claims could stand up to any audit or legal challenge and that “the bottom line is that it makes a difference who is in office. And I was determined to make sure L.A. Unified got every dime it was legally entitled to.”

Thirteen other school districts in the state receive desegregation money, and Davis said he would reimburse any unspent funds that meet legal requirements.

Los Angeles County Supt. of Schools Stuart Gothold, responsible under state law for ensuring the district’s fiscal health, said he will not lift a downgraded financial rating he slapped on the district last month, even though the cash infusion from the state allows it to pay for the contract.

“The district is not out of the woods,” Gothold said. “Their projected ending balance this year is still only $6 million.”

Serious questions remain about the financial stability of the district next year, said Maureen DiMarco, Gov. Pete Wilson’s secretary of child development and education.

“It appears the board is adding one more layer to the house of cards, financially,” DiMarco said. “This is a two-year contract. The money has been addressed for this year, but what about next year?”

The district is already preparing for hundreds of layoffs, increases in class size and program cuts to make up for a projected $143-million budget shortfall next year. And these potential cuts do not include paying the $43-million cost of the teachers’ contract next year.

Quezada held out hope Tuesday that by more aggressively pursuing desegregation money again next year, the district can cushion its financial woes.

Staff writer Henry Chu contributed to this story.