EDITORIAL : SCHOOL DAZE; THE LAUSD NEEDS TO PROVE IT CAN RUN SCHOOLS OR STEP ASIDE.

WATCHING the LAUSD Board of Education and Superintendent Ruben Zacarias fumble every opportunity to act boldly and decisively to reform L.A.'s schools leaves the public more than a little puzzled and perplexed.

Can they really have so little regard for the more than half-million children in Los Angeles who expect and depend on them for an education that shapes their future?

Can they really be so disconnected from the community as to misunderstand or ignore the public's deep distrust and heightened sense of frustration?

Whatever the reasons, their latest actions aren't working to heal the breach of faith with the public and give them the necessary breathing room to restructure.

For example, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Diane Wayne practically pleaded with school officials Wednesday to release documents that detail a possible conflict of interest in the selection of the developer for the Belmont Learning Complex. Conducting public business behind closed doors is not good public policy, she admonished.

But the district refused.

Although the district had to beg voters - even deceive them - to win approval of a $2.4 billion bond measure this year to fix dilapidated campuses, district officials are unapologetically weighing proposals to build costly new downtown headquarters for bureaucrats.

District administrators and individual board members continue to struggle against independent, outside review of bond money by the Proposition BB Blue Ribbon Citizens Oversight Committee.

Yet it was the promise of outside oversight that got the bond issue passed in the first place because the LAUSD's credibility was so low.

Time and again, the district seems surprised, confused and hurt by negative public reaction over its decisions. Yet the district invites further alienation when it exhibits open hostility to public input.

And just when we were holding onto hope for change from Superintendent Zacarias, he elects for more of the same.

Consider these early missteps: When he named his new management team, he reappointed all 26 high-level administrators for one year, no changes, no demotions and firings.

Even though he said a new business czar and deputy superintendent for instruction were top priorities, he has yet to appoint anyone to those priority posts.

Although the district constantly pleads poverty in its $5 billion budget, Zacarias asked for and received from the board salary increases of up to 39 percent for his top lieutenants. Each of the three will be paid $139,000.

Throwing more money at administrators who were part of a failed leadership team of the past is an uncomfortable message to send to a skeptical and impatient public.

As for adding more levels of bureaucracy, Zacarias, a former deputy superintendent, said in a statement last week that the three deputies will take on more nonacademic responsibilities - freeing him up to work on improving student achievement.

And how exactly will he accomplish that task? It's hard to tell. Despite vows to include tough accountability standards in his contract, Zacarias' newly approved goals simply include 21 self-written objectives without concrete measurements or time lines.

Zacarias says the right things when pressed on his commitment to reform schools, institute efficiency in the budget and drastically improve the quality of education in Los Angeles.

But talk is cheap.

As the board's handpicked successor to former Superintendent Sid Thompson for more than a year, he should already have in place a clear and detailed map for rebuilding education in the nation's second-largest city.

That he has offered no specifics raises concern. The few policy decisions he has made seem to indicate an unwillingness or inability to strike out in a new direction.

His promises to provide measurable results are wrapped in fuzzy buzzwords, such as focusing, developing and identifying.

The new superintendent must understand he has no honeymoon with the public and obviously none among a few members on the seven-seat Board of Education.

None should be required. With a 31-year career in education in Los Angeles Unified School District, this district insider should be more than ready to step into his new leadership role and provide just that, leadership.

LAUSD is in crisis - even board members acknowledge this is its last chance. More of the same old ways is not the way to save the district.