EDITORIAL SCHOOL SCROOGES LAUSD FACING GHOSTS OF MISTAKES PAST.

'TIS the season for visits from the Ghost of Christmas Past to remind the wicked of old mistakes that haunt them still.

For officials of the Los Angeles Unified School District, that particular ghost is the specter of a land deal that could have saved it as much as $200 million. Six years ago, the school district declined to compete for free surplus land from the federal government in San Pedro. The former Navy housing site was purchased by a residential developer.

Now the school district is prepared to shell out the market-rate price - as much as $200 million - to take the same land through eminent domain that it could have had for free. The school board wants the site for a new high school.

This isn't the mistake of the current administration headed by Superintendent Roy Romer, but he must be cognizant of the many terrifying shades left behind by district bungles that continue to cost the taxpayers dearly.

Bah, humbug, indeed.