ROMER PROPOSES 10% FUNDING CUT FOR LOCAL DISTRICTS.

Byline: Jennifer Radcliffe Staff Writer

Bending to union-driven pressure, Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent Roy Romer proposed Tuesday cutting an additional 10 percent from the budgets of the 11 local districts.

During an emotionally charged two-hour debate, some trustees said Romer's proposal to cut $3.3 million from local districts still fell short.

Their alternatives ranged from eliminating all 11 districts to freezing salaries.

``If we don't make some real systemic changes this district will be bankrupt in two to three years,'' board member Mike Lansing said.

Lansing unsuccessfully proposed reducing local districts to include only core workers, cutting $50 million from the administration and freezing salaries this year for all employees and consultants.

But Romer said the local districts are critical for overseeing construction, improving curriculum and serving the community.

``We don't need to jump off the cliff and destroy or take apart the infrastructure of the district,'' Romer said.

``I'm proposing that we keep the 11 districts, that we further economize by cutting another 10 percent ... and that we continue to look for more economies as we continue to work.''

LAUSD officials cut nearly $500 million from the district's budget this year and face another possible $94 million shortfall in the 2004-2005 budget to be adopted later this year.

If the cuts aren't made at the administrative level, children will suffer, trustees said.

Also on Tuesday, the board voted unanimously to renew Granada Hills High School's charter for an additional five years.

The 4,000-student campus received a one-year charter last May, becoming the largest charter school in California.

Jennifer Radcliffe, [phone]

jennifer.radcliffe(at)dailynews.com