KIDS LEFT WAITING FOR PRESCHOOLS ONLY $2.2 MILLION SPENT OF $15 MILLION EARMARKED.

Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer

Three years after the Los Angeles school board allocated $15 million to expand badly needed preschool programs, just $2.2 million has been spent to add about 320 seats, leaving 10,600 youngsters on a waiting list.

Now caught in the most severe budget crunch in decades, district officials have reneged on the remainder of the appropriation and decided not to issue $12.8 million in certificates of participation - a form of debt financing.

Instead, Los Angeles Unified School District officials plan to use money from voter-approved Measure K - the $3.35 billion school construction bond approved in November - to pay to install bungalows for preschool expansion. Measure K sets aside $80 million for technology upgrades and new facilities related to early childhood education.

The bond money, according to a minority of board members, is meant to supplement the 1999 allocation, which would mean a total of $92.8 million for early education.

School board members David Tokofsky and Jose Huizar say they're outraged by the $12.8 million funding cut, and contend that it goes against board policy and the intent of voters when they approved Measure K.

``We told voters that $50 million was going to buy new facilities for child development, not new bungalows,'' Tokofsky said. ``Now what they are doing is, instead of looking at building new places, they are going to use Measure K money to bungalows, which I don't think is in the voter pamphlet.''

Huizar said he will seek a written opinion on the legality of using Measure K revenue to fulfill an earlier promise.

``When I voted to put Measure K on the ballot, I fully expected to provide $80 million for early childhood centers,'' he said. ``With the proposal by the superintendent (Roy Romer) to withdraw $12.8 million, I think it subverts the intent of not only the board of education, but of the voters.''

School board President Caprice Young said she was also under the impression that the bond money would be in addition to the 1999 allocation.

School board member Julie Korenstein defends Romer's decision to use Measure K funds to expand preschool programs. Debt financing through COPs, she said, makes no sense for the district when it's in a budget crunch and has money available through Measure K.

California now faces $35 billion in deficits this fiscal year and next, and is expected to balance the budget by cutting funding for education and other services.

``You don't borrow money, pay back interest on it, and it ends up costing you millions more, if you already have money in place,'' Korenstein said. ``That's why we ran the bond measure, so we wouldn't have to borrow money.''

Besides, Korenstein noted that the $80 million set aside by the bond is substantially more than the earlier allocation.

The district already has about $550 million in debts and a selmposed policy of capping debt payments at $75 million per year. Issuing $12.8 million in COPs would have pushed the district over its debt limit.

COPs are repaid using the general fund - unrestricted money that also pays teachers' salaries and classroom needs.

Romer recently pleaded with board members not to take on additional debt at a time when Gov. Gray Davis is considering cutting as much as $1.5 billion from public education statewide. The LAUSD's share of the cut could be $140 million for this year alone.

``I am trying to protect you,'' said Romer. ``We are facing very dire circumstances. I am not trying to deprive you of $92.8 million. It's just how you pay for it.''

Romer suggested that the board make up the $12.8 million by asking voters to approve another bond measure in the future. District officials have already said they will put a multibillion-dollar construction bond on the 2004 ballot.

The LAUSD's preschool programs serve about 32,000 children. Early education centers and its School Readiness and Language Development Program have the longest waiting lists, each with nearly 5,000 youngsters in line.

Throughout the district, more than 10,600 children are waiting for a pre-education seat. The real need is expected to be much greater because in areas where early education centers don't exist, parents are unable to put their names on a waiting list, said Assistant Superintendent Carmen Schroeder.

Mila Mercado, principal of the Canoga Park and Noble Avenue Elementary School early education centers, said she has more than 200 families waiting to get into the two facilities - at least 120 families for the Canoga Park site and the rest at Noble Elementary in North Hills.

``The need for services like this is overwhelming,'' she said.

In the near future, Mercado will open two new bungalows at the Canoga Park site to serve an additional 50 kids.

Deputy Superintendent Maria Ott said only a small portion of the 1999 allocation was spent because the money was restricted to facilities, and the district must secure state funding for operations.

The LAUSD's own research shows that children who attend early childhood development programs are much more likely to succeed in later years.

In 2001-02, more than 50 percent, or 3,697 of 6,697 second-graders held back, had no early education experience. In light of that research, Huizar said he was incensed by the $12.8 million cut.

``I really don't understand how we could withdraw $12.8 million for early education centers when all the research indicates prevention in the early age of kids gets you a bigger bang for the buck,'' he said. ``You either put the money up front or pay huge amounts later ... for some more prisons.''

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Photo:

(color) At Canoga Park Elementary School early childhood education center, preschoolers Alexa Martinez, top, and Giselle Delatorre play computer games.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer