EDITORIAL : PULLING A FAST ONE? LAUSD IS TAKING ANOTHER STAB AT GETTING AROUND PROPOSITION 227.

THE Los Angeles school board's request for permission to exempt 34 schools from the rules imposed by Proposition 227 is highly suspect and shouldn't be taken at face value.

The district has shown that it will do anything to avoid implementing the voter-approved English-only education rules, and there has to be a certain amount of skepticism over whether this is just another attempt to get around them.

The district is asking for blanket waivers from Proposition 227 at 34 schools, a fraction of the campuses in the vast district. The waivers would allow students to enroll in dual-language or bilingual programs that school officials claim have thus far proved effective at teaching students English quickly at these schools.

With the Los Angeles Unified School District mainstreaming just 8 percent of Spanish-speaking students into regular classes each year, we wonder why the bilingual programs at these schools were not implemented districtwide if they were so successful.

There is some evidence already that district officials have fudged the numbers in claiming all 34 schools are successfully teaching English using bilingual programs.

Allen Sussman, principal at Napa Street Elementary in Northridge, did not ask to be exempted but found his school on the list of 34. He said parents have signed their kids up for one of two English-immersion classes.

``They lumped all 34 schools together, but there's a number of us that do not want to be included in this blanket waiver,'' Sussman said.

We can't help but wonder whether this is just another case of the LAUSD board members putting their ideology above the law, and above the interests of their students.

The state Board of Education believes the law is clear on the subject of waivers: It can be done on a child-by-child basis. Proposition 227 allows for some leeway but only on a case-by-case basis.

We think there should be some leeway if the LAUSD can prove convincingly and with honest numbers that each of these 34 schools integrated students successfully using bilingual programs. Frankly, that's unlikely given the response of principals like Sussman and the LAUSD's dismal track record.