EDITORIAL : PAY FOR PERFORMANCE.

AT a time when the Los Angeles Unified School District is hemorrhaging money, can't buy textbooks and is paying thousands to ousted bureaucrats, the teachers union is asking for more money for its members.

It's hard to say no to pay raises for teachers. Many are overworked, often have to buy supplies for projects because the district inexplicably won't give them enough cash, have to teach in poor conditions to kids who don't have books and sometimes don't have a desk.

It's a tough job that doesn't pay well and the rewards only come from personal achievement recognized by students, peers and parents.

The momentum to upgrade the pay of teachers is strong.

The problem is how to do it in a way that attracts better people to the profession and motivates teachers to improve their skills and work harder. In the American free enterprise system, those kind of goals are achieved by rewarding success with money, paying more for excellence and achievement.

But in the public sector, individuals cannot be rewarded financially for outstanding work - that's why mediocrity prevails in government at all levels.

And that's the way the union, United Teachers Los Angeles, wants the system operating in our failing schools. Each year, teachers get the same across-the-board pay hike.

So a teacher whose students consistently fail to show improvement on standardized tests will get the same raise as the teacher whose kids show improvement.

Now that UTLA wants to negotiate a 6 percent pay raise for teachers, it's time for the district and union officials to consider a pay-for-performance model that will benefit excellent LAUSD teachers, inspire second-rate ones to do better and lure promising or highly experienced educators to L.A.'s public schools.

The district already pays bonuses for teachers who are certified by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. This year, 118 LAUSD teachers received the vaunted certification and along with it a 15 percent pay raise from LAUSD and a $10,000 bonus from the state of California.

A similar system ought to be installed at the school district. Teachers would be rewarded for passing tough districtwide tests, results of standardized tests taken by students and evaluations from parents, students, teachers and administrators.

Continuing the across-the-board system of pay raises erodes the morale of the good teachers and reinforces the complacency of the poor ones.

We urge the new school board members and the new LAUSD administrators to institute a merit-based system that will encourage teachers to perform better because ultimately that is the key to improving the education of Los Angeles' children.