School Officials Ponder New Roles in Reorganization

From muck-a-mucks to minions, employees at Los Angeles Unified School District headquarters Monday were reassessing what their roles might be in the new, slimmed-down district.

As he stood photocopying staff-development information, Anthony Jackson said he, for one, would relish returning to the classroom.

“I don’t have a deficit perspective of the classroom,” said Jackson, a longtime elementary school teacher who now trains other teachers for the district. “Doctors are the stars of hospitals, not administrators. Teachers should be held in that same esteem. That would solve a lot of the problems.”

Amid a whirl of regular duties, employees pored over the fine print in the 250-page tomes outlining job cuts and department shifts that landed on supervisors’ desks.

“Everybody seems to be tense and very busy,” said one worker hunkered over his computer in the district’s instruction unit, which is taking one of the biggest cuts.

The reorganization will cut 834 positions, with the idea of redeploying workers to schools and 11 new mini-districts that will operate more or less autonomously. Most people whose jobs are eliminated will be able to apply for other positions throughout the district, many of them at schools. Staff members remaining in the central offices will in the future provide tactical support for those districts.

Few people were spared anxiety.

“My job is gone,” said Gordon Wohlers, an assistant superintendent heading the office of policy research and development. His department’s duties will become part of a new planning, assessment and research operation.

At 55, Wohlers said he has no intention of retiring and instead will apply for another position, perhaps at a school. The last position in which he has seniority is elementary school principal--”probably my most favorite job,” he said.

Still, such a move would possibly mean a reduced salary. Such details, however, remain to be worked out, and one district source suggested that pay decisions could be made on a case-by-case basis.

District employees whose jobs are eliminated will retain their rights to “bump” less senior people. However, Ramon C. Cortines, the district’s interim superintendent, said at a news conference that he would work with the administrators union to ensure that “successful” school principals remain in their positions.

Many staffers attempted to put a good face on the situation. Others said they felt too intimidated to speak about it.

One secretary who asked that she not be identified complained that under the new configuration, many job titles were being downgraded, along with salaries. In one instance, a senior secretary who had been upgraded to a legislative assistant saw her job reduced to “steno secretary.”

“They’ve given no regard to the type of work you were doing,” the secretary said. “I don’t know how this will fly, especially once the unions get hold of it.”

Judy Ivie Burton, assistant superintendent of the school reform office, said she understands the purpose of the reorganization, which will eliminate her 17-person department. The document shouldn’t have taken anybody by surprise, she said, given that district employees have known since January that upheaval was coming.

“Everyone’s getting their resumes dusted off,” Burton said.

Burton said she plans to apply “for everything I’m eligible to apply for,” including one of the 11 district superintendent jobs.

“I think it’s important for everybody to see the reorganization as an opportunity,” she said. “Cortines is trying to establish a culture where the most important place to be is in a school or directly helping a school.

“Many people think you haven’t arrived until you’ve been promoted out of a school into the downtown office. Really, our focus should be just the opposite.”