SIMI TEACHERS TO CONSIDER NEWSPAPER BOYCOTT.

Byline: Carol Rock Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY - Leaders of the Simi Valley teachers union will ask members to boycott the Daily News over a Sept. 5 headline on a story about the Los Angeles school board cutting an additional $50 per student in classroom funding.

The executive council of the 1,000-member Simi Educators Association will seek approval Wednesday from school site representatives for members to cancel subscriptions and refuse Newspapers in Education copies in classrooms.

The story under the headline ``School kids lose again'' reported the LAUSD board's action to make the $50-per-student cuts in classroom programs on top of a $40-per-student cut last year. Parents, administrators and the Los Angeles teachers union have objected to the cuts in classroom funds, which were used to partly cover rising costs of medical insurance for LAUSD employees.

``That crossed the line,'' said Arleigh Kidd, president of the SEA. ``We feel it was an opinion and belonged on the editorial page. It was an attack on all teachers. The paper could have explored the state's failure to support the schools instead of dumping on the teachers.''

In a letter to Kidd, Daily News Editor David J. Butler said the headline was not directed toward teachers and he's sorry if there was a misunderstanding over its meaning. He said it simply reflected what the board had done and the fact that kids would be hurt by the cut in funds.

``The headline certainly meant no disrespect to teachers,'' Butler said. ``The Daily News understands the importance of teachers and in its editorials it has repeatedly chastised the LAUSD for spending millions of dollars on consultants and bureaucrats.''

Carol Rock, [phone]

carol.rock(at)dailynews.com