American Notes CALIFORNIA

The surf was up and the video arcades were jammed last week as hordes of kids played enforced hooky, while their teachers continued striking in Los Angeles, the country's second largest school district.

The teachers want a raise of 10% this year, retroactive to July 1, 1988, and an 8% increase in each of the next two years. They also want to be relieved of school-yard duty and given a greater voice in running the schools. The district is offering a 21.5% increase over three years. Unless the walkout is resolved, it could postpone graduation for about 35,000 seniors and delay class promotions for most of Los Angeles' 594,000 public-school students. The teachers' cause got an apparent boost last week when Governor George Deukmejian announced that the state had an unanticipated tax windfall of $2.5 billion, as much as $228 million of which may eventually trickle down to the Los Angeles Unified School District, if the state legislature approves. No check is in the mail yet.