UTLA OFFICIALS: RAISES POSSIBLE.

Byline: Terri Hardy Sacramento Bureau

Teachers union officials will announce today that a study of the LAUSD finances shows there's enough money to cover a pay raise, but district officials are expected to maintain that crucial programs would have to be sacrificed.

Although Los Angeles Unified School District finances remain a matter of debate, the school board is likely to vote to go forward with pay raise negotiations with United Teachers Los Angeles, board member David Tokofsky said Monday.

``The good thing about this process is that it is forcing management to think about what kind of accountability they want,'' Tokofsky said.

The teachers union is pushing for a 4 percent pay hike this year in addition to the 2 percent raise they are already getting this year.

The district last year agreed to give teachers a 10 percent increase over three years in return for a plan that would link instructors' pay raises to student performance.

Such a plan was never forthcoming, and only recently did the UTLA propose that the district implement a system where teachers would be evaluated by their peers as a means of accountability.

With more money coming from the state this year, the UTLA has pressured the district and board members for a share of the cash.

But district officials, including Superintendent Ruben Zacarias, have said that handing out more money for teachers would mean that important programs would have to be cut.

A task force of district and UTLA officials, as well as an outside financial consultant, was formed to see if there was enough money in LAUSD coffers to give teachers raises and not hamper key academic needs.

Steve Blazak, spokesman for the UTLA, said the union will announce at a news conference today that the money does exist.

``The money is there, and right now. It's not doing anything for kids,'' Blazak said. ``Research has shown that the best way to get kids to do better academically is to have an effective teacher.''

Blazak contends that the UTLA must raise its pay to remain competitive with other districts and keep its ability to hire and retain good teachers.

While the report had not yet been released Monday to board members or the public, Tokofsky confirmed that extra money appears to exist.

Firm figures are still hard to come by, he said, because the district has never implemented a system where it tracks how many workers it employs.

``Without that ability, you don't know how much to budget for wages,'' Tokofsky said. ``The district has gone along, not knowing how much to budget, using a buffer of 25 percent.'

Even with that uncertainty, Tokofsky believes it is crucial to boost teachers and warns that if the board only delivers a nominal pay hike, ``It's not going to get the district anything; it's not going to change the whole education system.''