LAUSD DECLINES ANTI-WAR CALL BOARD CHOOSES TO ENCOURAGE OPEN DEBATES.

Byline: Helen Gao Staff Writer

A divided Los Angeles school board voted Tuesday against a resolution to condemn the United States' plan to wage war against Iraq and instead opted to urge school officials to encourage open debate on campus about the international crisis.

The anti-war resolution, authored by school board member Genethia Hudley Hayes, failed by a 2-2 vote. Board member Mike Lansing abstained, and members Julie Korenstein and David Tokofsky were absent.

Echoing the sentiment expressed by a public speaker, school board President Caprice Young and board member Marlene Canter both voted against Hayes' resolution, saying it didn't present the other side of the debate.

``This resolution is not about balanced and open debate,'' said Jim Hake, one of about a half dozen people who spoke on the issue. ``This resolution presents one official view as the right way to think. It amounts to political indoctrination of our children.''

An alternative resolution sponsored by Young to promote ``balanced, open education and debate'' succeeded with a 4-1 vote, with Hayes opposing it.

``Our students have to be able to talk about this, learn about it and engage in dialogue with their teachers about it in a free and open way,'' she said.

Young noted that her office has received a number of complaints about school officials curtailing students' political activism. Hayes said in her district, one school principal locked down the campus to prevent students from leaving for a war protest.

A handful of speakers, including environmentalist John Quigley, spoke out against the war.

``If our country goes to war, we are the ones who will be most affected because there are many people of color in the military,'' said Kameale Terry, student body president at Audubon Middle School. ``Many of our uncles and cousins will be deployed for war.''

At the same meeting, Los Angeles Unified School District officials reported that they expect to end fiscal 2002-03 with a surplus of $388.3 million - $72.2 million higher than the original projection.

However, they cautioned that expenditures are far outstripping revenues, and said the surplus would be eroded to balance the budget next year.

Joseph Zeronian, the LAUSD's chief financial officer, said the district's expenditures so far total $5.3 billion, compared with revenues of $5.1 billion.

Citing the imbalance, Zeronian estimates that the district would have to slash spending by at least $400 million this year and next, with $100 million of the cuts to take place in the next few months.

``We don't know exactly what the future holds for us. We know things at the state level are not good,'' said Zeronian.

The board will begin the work of trimming the district's budget at its next meeting.

The board also opened public hearings Tuesday on two proposed charter schools in the San Fernando Valley - High Tech High School to be based out of Birmingham High School and Imagine Academy, which has not yet found a home.

Imagine Academy plans to start with 130 students in grades 6-9 and expand each year until it reaches a capacity of 350 in grades 6-12.

To be housed out of converted vocational program shops, the High Tech school will serve 400 students who currently attend Birmingham.