EDITORIAL : TRASHING THE CLASSROOMS VANDALS MUST PAY, WHETHER IN CASH, LABOR OR BOTH.

VANDALS cost millions of dollars annually in Los Angeles city schools, according to a new report to the Los Angeles Board of Education.

That's bad enough, but the Los Angeles Unified School District's response to this problem is even worse.

Few of the vandals and thieves are caught, and even fewer are held to pay restitution for their damage. The LAUSD's lax follow-through would defy imagination were it not for past examples of sloppy performance by the giant school district.

Of course, the public cannot expect full financial restitution from low-income parents of youngsters who destroy public property. But there are such things as community service, work programs and administrative discipline.

It would be reasonable for apprehended vandals to perform months of weekly detention, doing such chores as collecting refuse and sweeping classrooms and sidewalks. That would contribute to the development of character, set an example for others, help restore the credibility of the district in the eyes of taxpayers and shore up the morale of teachers and other personnel at victimized campuses.

According to the report to the Board of Education, vandals and thieves cost the LAUSD more than $6 million last year, but the schools recouped only about 1 percent of that in restitution. Often, computers and other equipment destroyed or stolen are replaced by teachers and parent volunteers who dig into their own pockets or spearhead fund-raising. It's not unheard of for the replaced equipment to be stolen or destroyed, too.

Thus, school board member David Tokofsky was on target when he questioned why the district does such a poor job of follow-up action against such serious, demoralizing losses. ``There needs to be some punishment,'' Tokofsky said, but there is ``a continued problem getting the requests through the labyrinth of the bureaucracy.''

LAUSD officials concede, for example, that the identities of people caught for vandalism and burglary often are lost in the district's sprawling bureaucracy, preventing the collection of restitution. District officials also say it's hard to protect more than 600 schools spread across 708 square miles.

Both excuses illuminate management failure, and tend to support the view that the LAUSD should be broken into smaller, more manageable districts.