ROMER BUDGET CUTS LAUSD OFFICES.

Byline: Erik N. Nelson Staff Writer

Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Roy Romer on Thursday released a proposed $5.2 billion operating budget for next year that includes $65 million in cuts to central and district office staffing - including unspecified layoffs.

The proposal, which the school board is expected to vote on in June, contains no increases for textbooks or teacher salaries, which are up for renegotiation next month.

Romer said that while the level of state funding will be unclear until mid-May, when he will release a revised budget, the document put out Thursday shows where the district is aiming its budget ax.

A teachers union contract with average increases and bonuses of 15.3 percent has forced district officials to find new funds and cuts totaling $150 million.

``This document is showing how we're going to close the gap on that $150 million,'' Romer said, adding that it leaves $27 million yet to be made up in either new funding or further cuts.

The proposed operating budget is up from the $4.5 billion proposed last year. The total budget, which was at $8.9 billion this year, is likely to include several billion in capital expenditures for new schools and insurance, and will be released in June.

The largest cut listed in a 10-page summary - $65 million - comes from administration, both at district headquarters and in 12 local district offices.

``We hope that good people, if they're laid off, we can convert them into teachers,'' said Romer, saying the district could perhaps enlist them to serve among the budget's 500 new reading or math coaches.

The next largest cut is $49 million from special education programs, which Romer said would be achieved by more accurately identifying children with special needs and determining what level of help they need.

Some special education students simply need better English instruction, and better evaluations could spot those children and save money, he said. Streamlining the evaluation process will also save money by avoiding expenditures on one kind of help when a child needs another, so the district ends up paying for both.

Romer said the cornerstone of his new budget is $40 million in redirected federal Title I funding for poor students. He favors putting the money into math and reading programs that would put about 500 more reading and math coaches into schools to help improve how the subjects are taught.

``We're trying to reinforce the core instruction of this district, which is reading and math,'' Romer said.

Uncertainty over state funding has put a cloud over this year's budget discussions. Last year, the district received an additional $300 million from the state - an amount the state is believed to be spending each week on electricity because of the ongoing power crisis.

``Right now, I have some very grave concerns about what's going on at the state level with regard to our income,'' said LAUSD Chief Financial Officer Joseph Zeronian.

The board will have a public budget workshop at 9 a.m. Saturday in its board room at LAUSD headquarters downtown at North Grand Street and the Hollywood Freeway.