School leaders and union officials absolutely did the right thing last week with a compromise to allow furloughs next year rather than laying off more than 2,000 teachers, librarians, counselors and nurses. It will mean a school year shortened by a week, but the alternative scenario of thousands more people out of work and students crowding in 40-plus classrooms was untenable.

Really, it was the only decision they could make and keep any semblance of decent education in L.A. Unified schools and deal with a $640 million deficit. This is a recession. There is less money in the world - not just for some people, but for everyone. And that means we're all doing more for less in one way or another. It's not ideal, but it is real. Any teacher or administrator or union representative had to see that destroying the district to protect the perks of a privileged few is not in anyone's best interest.

OK, immediate problem averted. Now it's time for the school district - and Los Angeles City Hall and the county Board of Supervisors and Sacramento and every other public employer in the country facing chronic budget problems - to do the larger, more important work of reforming the cost of government work force.

Some politicians are fond of pointing to the gap between company CEOs and ordinary folk, but they