EDITORIAL NO-SPIN ZONES IT WILL TAKE MORE THAN A CATCHY SLOGAN FOR THE LAUSD TO FIGHT OFF REFORM.

LOS Angeles Unified School District officials last week unwittingly validated Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's bid to gain control of the district when they responded to his effort by starting to plan a public relations blitz against this reform effort, as they have similar efforts in the past.

Whether LAUSD officials find a way to dip into their $13 billion budget for a few million, or tap their unions and other anti-reformers, they no doubt will get expert advice in developing a slick public relations operation to blitz the media with scare tactics and a catchy marketing slogan or two.

Government at all levels has found that it can often obscure the failure to solve people's problems and deliver on promises with a smoke screen of half truths and outright lies. Clearly, public officials are exempt from truth-in-advertising laws.

Los Angeles' City Hall has used such tactics extensively for years, but found such tactics can backfire. The Department of Water and Power, for instance, threw millions of dollars to a P.R. firm only to find the money was wasted when it led to federal investigations and indictments.

Is that the kind of image-making LAUSD board members want?

Yes, the district has made some inroads into boosting school achievement and reducing overcrowded classrooms with a massive school construction project still under way - and its small in-house public relations staff has done a good job of communicating its achievements to the world at large.

But none of that has changed the fact that many people want the district broken up into manageable pieces, want more power for parents and teachers, and want more students to graduate instead of dropping out.

It's absurd to argue that the $862,000 the LAUSD spends each year for its communication staff is inadequate. The LAUSD was created to educate children, not to mislead the public about reform efforts.

Schools ought to be non-spin zones. If the district wants to get some kudos, it must earn them. Student achievement, happy parents and inspired teachers are the best P.R. that money can't buy.