EDITORIAL CROOKED CONNECTIONS LAUSD PAYROLL CONTRACT IS SO BAD IN OH SO MANY WAYS.

WHEN it comes to working up outrage over the LAUSD's payroll disaster, it's hard to know where to start or whom to blame first.

First, there's the obvious problem that the Los Angeles Unified School District paid $95 million for a new computerized payroll system that doesn't work. More than 10,000 employees have been without paychecks for more than two weeks.

But this deal was rotten long before the payroll system left employees in financial straits. Indeed, it has more to do with the generally crooked state of affairs called government contracting in Los Angeles.

This particular bad deal began in 2005, when the LAUSD went out to bid for a new computerized payroll system. Instead of taking the lowest -- or even least problematic -- bid, district officials chose one put forth by SAP Public Services, which has a history of problems at other schools in other states.

That may seem like an odd choice -- until one considers the connection factor.

The lobbying firm Rose & Kindel represents the LAUSD's interests in Sacramento. The firm, it turns out, was also representing SAP at the very same time -- but never, everyone vows, did it lobby the LAUSD on SAP's behalf. That would have been wrong.

It gets worse.

At the same time the two clients of Rose & Kindel were involved in the bidding process for a new district payroll system, the firm was pushing legislation sponsored by Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, D-Van Nuys, that would allow the LAUSD to waive state rules requiring it to accept the lowest bid for contracts. In other words, a bill that would allow the LAUSD to accept SAP's payroll bid, even though it wasn't the lowest one submitted.

And heck if it wasn't timely.

The same day the Levine bill was signed into law in October 2005, the LAUSD announced its contract with SAP.

Coincidence? Of course not. Nothing this convoluted and connected could be mere happenstance. But its sheer complexity is perhaps what school officials are counting on for insulation.

Who can work up a proper froth when the details are so mind-numbing? Who bears the blame when so many people are involved -- school officials, the school board, SAP, Levine and lobbyists at Rose & Kindel.

With responsibility for the corruption spread so far and wide, no one has to bear the brunt of it.

But that doesn't help the thousands of employees who have missed mortgage payments and other important bills. And it's little consolation to taxpayers, who pick up the tab for what the district spends daily to deal with the glitch.

School officials say they might seek legal action against the suppliers for the faulty system, which is fine, but doesn't the district share culpability for allowing politics to dictate contracting decisions?

Sadly, this labyrinthine tale of government mismanagement and waste isn't the first time the school district has failed to serve the public's interest. And it's unlikely it will be the last.

The onus is now on new Superintendent David Brewer III -- a self-described change agent -- to clean up the mess caused by years of cronyism. And if he can't do it, it will be all the more reason to support the mayor's quest for school control.