EDITORIAL : SPIN DOCTORS AT WORK LAUSD TAKES TOO MUCH CREDIT FOR FAVORABLE CREDIT RATING.

PUBLIC officials can be pretty shameless at times about taking credit for the achievements of others.

A classic example is a July 17 memo issued by Henry Jones, chief financial officer for the Los Angeles Unified School District, bragging about how good a deal the LAUSD got on Proposition BB, its $2.4 billion bond issue.

The memo noted that the district's credit rating is better than the state's. That, however, was comparing apples with oranges.

The state's credit rating is based largely on the rating agencies' opinions of the ability of state government to pay its debts.

In contrast, general obligation bonds such as Proposition BB are backed by even more ironclad security - the value of all the private property within the taxing agencies' jurisdictions.

That makes general obligation bonds especially appealing to investors. They know that property owners are required to pay additional real estate taxes to cover the cost of the bonds. They also know that if property owners fail to pay their taxes on time, their real estate will be placed on the delinquent list. Delinquent properties ultimately can be sold at auction so the taxes will be paid.

There is another reason why interest rates on general obligation bonds are relatively low.

Investors, not surprisingly, tend to be wary of bonds issued by agencies with a lot of debt. Fortunately, the ability of spendthrift politicians to borrow money is held in check by prudent language in the state constitution requiring that general obligation bonds be approved by at least two-thirds of the voters who cast ballots in elections on bond issues.

Finally, what matters most is not the LAUSD's skill in borrowing money but how wisely it spends it. And on that score, the jury on Proposition BB is still out.