RIORDAN BLASTS `CHICKEN' BOARD.

Byline: Rick Orlov and Jesse Hiestand Daily News Staff Writers

Calling the Los Angeles school board ``too chicken to do what's necessary,'' Mayor Richard Riordan said Thursday that the LAUSD could afford new textbooks and teacher pay hikes if incompetent and unnecessary bureaucrats were fired.

Riordan's escalation of his criticism prompted school board member Julie Korenstein to respond that the mayor's remark was misdirected and ``doesn't really help the children.''

``That's the superintendent's responsibility,'' she said. ``The mayor knows it is the superintendent that does the hiring and firing of incompetent people.''

The mayor's comments come as the board and teachers debate whether to reopen contract negotiations during the second year of a three-year, 10 percent contract.

Teachers and other school employees are asking for 4 percent extra this year but district officials and board members have said there might not be enough money left for educational programs and books.

``If you're running the school district, you have to set goals, with the main goal of giving every kid a quality education,'' said Riordan, who is forming his own slate of candidates to overthrow the school board.

``Then, the question is how do you get there. You get there by having quality teachers and pay them enough,'' he said. ``The salaries of the teachers are too low to attract the best in society.''

At the same time, Riordan said the district could cut a layer of bureaucracy to find the money to purchase textbooks.

``To me, it is totally unacceptable that kids don't have books,'' Riordan said. ``It is also unacceptable that teachers are underpaid. But, (school board members) are too chicken to do what's necessary. They don't have the guts to fire the people who are incompetent and use that money to get books and good people.''

Riordan said he talked with Day Higuchi, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, about his concerns and will talk to school district officials as well.

Higuchi said he agreed with much of Riordan's assessment of the district and defended his union's efforts to get more money for teachers.

``The most cost-effective thing we can do is make sure we have qualified teachers,'' Higuchi said. ``The quality of the teacher accounts for 80 percent of student achievement.''

Korenstein said she wanted to raise salaries and achieve other educational goals.

``We have to do both but the money is limited,'' she said. ``We'll have to find a way to not only get better salaries but also provide for some of the (teacher-training and literary) programs we desperately need.''

Board member Valerie Fields also said the mayor is mistaken in assuming it is the board's responsibility to eliminate incompetent staff.

``I'm sure there are some areas where we can cut out some positions in the district but that's why we have hired a chief administrative officer,'' Fields said.

CAO David Kochs plans to do a comprehensive review of management to see whether all the positions are needed and whether current managers are competent and productive, she said.

As for textbooks, Fields said she does not believe that issue has merit because Zacarias told her in July that ``all of the kids have books.''

``As for lopping off a layer of bureaucracy, I have been personally looking into the money we spend on outside consultants and attorneys'' in hopes of saving the district money by setting a policy that will guide whether an attorney or consultant should be hired from the outside or on staff, she said.

Compared to the city and county, the LAUSD's management is relatively lean in terms of the number of well-compensated top administrators - those making an annual salary of more than $100,000, said board member George Kiriyama.

``I think we are still below the city and county as far as giving money out to bureaucracy,'' he said.

That is not to say the board lacks the guts to confront problem or ineffective employees, including teachers, he said.

``I've said all along that if they are incompetent, someone should write them up and get rid of them,'' Kiriyama said.

And even if a layer of bureaucracy were eliminated, Kiriyama is not convinced that would save enough money to fund both a raise for teachers and textbooks.

If a choice has to be made, it should be textbooks first, then raises, he said.

``If you don't have textbooks then you're not really helping the child,'' he said.

As Riordan's endorsed board candidate Genethia Hayes said, the real issue is whether board members have the will to make decisions on these tough issues.

Yet at the same time, the board should do everything possible to meet both funding needs, said Hayes, executive director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

``It should not be an either-or situation,'' Hayes said. ``It's not teachers or books. Teachers need a salary that dignifies their profession. In addition, of course, you also need books and materials.''

Incompetency should not be tolerated anywhere, Hayes added, ``but it certainly should not be accepted in the second-largest school district in the nation.''