RIORDAN THROWS BOOK AT LAUSD PAY RAISES.

Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer

Mayor Richard Riordan sharply criticized the Los Angeles school board Wednesday for even considering whether to spend a $60 million budget surplus on teacher pay hikes instead of on books and educational programs.

``First of all, there is absolutely no excuse for being in the position of not having sufficient books for all the kids,'' said Riordan, who calls himself the ``education mayor'' and is sponsoring a panel of candidates to seize control of the Los Angeles Unified School District board in next year's elections.

``I don't care where they get that money, but that's the priority. They shouldn't be thinking about anything else until that's accomplished,'' Riordan said.

The teachers union, United Teachers Los Angeles, asked for 4 percent raises after LAUSD Superintendent Ruben Zacarias proposed using surplus money for books, class-size reduction, tutoring, summer school programs and new technology.

On Tuesday, however, the Board of Education agreed to consider salary increases if the union met six conditions, including linking pay raises to student achievement. A 1 percent increase would cost the district about $27 million.

Board member David Tokofsky defended the panel's action, saying enough money exists for both salary increases and textbooks.

``I would never, nor would any teacher in his right mind, take or give pay raises before the primary responsibility of books,'' Tokofsky said. ``But nor should we allow people to buy 3-D multicolored textbooks just because the taxpayer spigot has been turned on high with respect to textbooks. There's a lot more basic needs that schools require and teachers are still paying out of their pockets to have children equipped with these materials.''

According to the UTLA, the pay increases would help attract and retain quality teachers.

Union President Day Higuchi also said the district should spend the surplus money for raises since the teachers accepted a 10 percent pay cut when the district was strapped for cash during the recession in the early 1990s.

Tokofsky said the district expects to receive additional state funding for textbooks this year, including: $32 million for math materials and textbooks for students in grades nine through 12, $20 million for library books and materials, and $9 million for science books and materials. The district also plans to spend $6.5 million on K-12 textbooks - $3.9 million more than the last fiscal year.

The mayor ``ought to recognize that Superintendent Ruben Zacarias has put in the budget, with the board's help, extra money for textbooks and the state Legislature has gone hog wild,'' Tokofsky said.

The teachers union and six other bargaining units are asking for a 4 percent pay raise in addition to a 2 percent hike their current contracts provide this year. All district unions are in the second year of three-year contracts providing for 6 percent pay increases in the first year and 2 percent in each successive year.

Daily News Staff Writer Rick Orlov contributed to this report.