Teachers Pact Gets Tentative Go-Ahead

A Superior Court judge dissolved an order Wednesday that had prevented the Los Angeles school board from approving the teachers contract, but he left open the possibility that a taxpayers group could raise last-minute objections that could again stall final approval of the pact.

The action by Judge Robert H. O’Brien, however, allows the school board to ratify the contract Monday, and school board President Leticia Quezada said she is confident that nothing will stand in the way of the vote.

However, the head of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. said the watchdog group is not completely satisfied that the Los Angeles Unified School District can afford the $36-million cost of the teachers contract--despite the last-minute infusion of a $35.1-million check from state Controller Gray Davis.

The group agreed to withdraw its court case Wednesday only if it still could question under oath two key school officials about the financial health of the district. The Jarvis group will inform the school district and United Teachers-Los Angeles by 5 p.m. Friday whether they will seek to again block in court the final ratification of the contract.

“We have to leave the door open,” said Joel Fox, president of the Jarvis group. “We can’t prove the district is solvent. If we are told under oath that the district will be solvent at the end of the year, there will be no problems. It’s our responsibility as a watchdog group to make sure.”

Before issuing the ruling that lifted a temporary restraining order, O’Brien said that both his wife and daughter were Los Angeles public school teachers and that he has previously removed himself from school-related cases. But attorneys on all sides said it did not matter because they all agreed to the resolution at hand.

UTLA President Helen Bernstein said that although she is relieved that the order was lifted, she is angry over the Jarvis group’s insistence on pursuing the issue.

“It’s despicable that these people want to push for two more days of publicity. Everyone saw the check from Davis. The money is there,” she said. “It’s clearly insensitive to the students and teachers of this community.”

Fox defended the group’s actions, adding that he believes the suit forced state and district officials to scramble for funds. “Finding the money is an admission that something was wrong in the first place,” Fox said.

The taxpayer organization won a temporary court order blocking approval of the contract April 19 on grounds that the state Constitution prohibits governments from spending more money than they have. On that day, the school board had been set to approve the contract even though plans were still in the works to find the money to pay for it.

Enraged by the surprising turn of events, the union immediately embarked on another strike vote. Union officials will announce today what they predict will be an overwhelming vote of rank-and-file members to strike May 7 if the contract is not ratified by the board by then.

Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) initiated the plan that led to the release of the funds. He asked Davis to review new Los Angeles school district claims to the state seeking reimbursement for unused desegregation money during the 1991-92 school year. Brown, who brokered the pact when both sides deadlocked, pledged to help the cash-starved district secure funding.

In the past, similar claims by the district had been turned down.

The $35.1 million includes costs for security, nurses services, utility expenses and special day-care programs at schools that are part of the district’s court-supervised desegregation programs. The district had spared these services from budget cuts in 1991-92 because they serve racial minorities.

Davis said his reading of the law allows the district to be reimbursed for these items because otherwise they would have been cut. Los Angeles had been allocated $3.2 million in state desegregation money in 1991.

The Jarvis group will take depositions from school district Budget Director Henry Jones and county Supt. of Schools Stuart Gothold. Trevor A. Grimm, a lawyer for the Jarvis group, said his questions will center on whether the district will indeed end the year in the black.

A budget report last month stated that the district did not have money to pay for the teachers contract and was relying on new funding sources. In addition, midyear deficits had forced the district to nearly deplete its emergency reserve funds.

“This payment of $35 million from the controller adds new funds to the district for the ‘92-’93 fiscal year and is available to meet the salaries obligations of the proposed contract agreement,” Jones said. “We believe we will be able to make it to the end of the year.”

Gothold, who under state law is responsible for ensuring that the district remains solvent, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.