March 25, 1984

An Educator's Tangled Books New York City Schools Chancellor Anthony J. Alvarado took a leave of absence last week to defend himself against charges that he had compromised his position by borrowing money from subordinates. The following day, when the City Department of Investigation released an interim report on what Mr. Alvarado himself called his ''personal financial morass,'' it was already clear that the Chancellor's defense would indeed be difficult. The unfolding tale of Mr. Alvarado's financial practices began last month when a school official was arrested for, among other things, firing a gun into a neighbor's apartment. A police search of the official's apartment turned up documents indicating that he had lent Mr. Alvarado thousands of dollars. The Chancellor said then that the loan was a personal matter; within a week, Mr. Alvarado disclosed more than $80,000 in loans, most from school employees who had worked for him when he was a district superintendent in East Harlem. He continued last week to maintain that he had never ''used public money for personal gain.''

STENGEL His Life and Times. By Robert W. Creamer. Illustrated. 349 pp. New York: Simon & Schuster. $16.95. IT is hard to believe that almost 25 years have passed since Casey Stengel managed the New York Yankees, almost 20 years since he managed the Mets. Stengel was 70 years old when the Yankees unceremoniously dumped him five days after the 1960 World Series, a Series New York lost by the narrowest of margins when Pittsburgh's Bill Mazeroski dramatically homered in the bottom of the ninth inning of the seventh and deciding game. Up to that fateful moment, Stengel had won 7 World Series and 10 American League pennants in 12 years as Yankee manager, a record that no one has surpassed.

''There is a life after Ralph.'' That was the sign raised high by Virginia fans today after the Cavaliers upset Indiana, 50-48, in the East Regional final at the Omni and reached the Final Four of the National Collegiate Athletic Association at Seattle next Saturday. The sign referred to Ralph Sampson, the 7-foot-4-inch former Virginia center now with the Houston Rockets, who played for the Cavaliers from 1979-83, when his team got to the Final Four only once, in 1981. There certainly is life in this team, which hasn't given up during four close tournament games and trailed Indiana by a point with a minute and a half to go.

The nation's philanthropies, which in the past have concentrated on domestic social and educational projects, are now beginning to devote significant time and money to seeking ways of slowing the arms race and reducing the threat of nuclear war. The Carnegie Corporation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and many smaller philanthropies are financing conferences on the consequences of nuclear conflict, promoting Soviet-American exchange programs and searching for ways to prevent crises. Ford Foundation grants support wide-ranging research into peace and security issues, including three university projects questioning the ethics of developing nuclear weapons. Fighting Nuclear Arms Race Many foundations contribute to nonprofit groups around the country that have organized to seek solutions to the nuclear arms race. Older organizations such as SANE and Physicians for Social Responsibility are now joined by newer organizations whose aim is to prevent nuclear war.

The Defense Ministry announced today that French troops in Beirut, the last unit of the multinational force, had been ordered to withdraw from the city by next Saturday. A statement by Defense Minister Charles Hernu said the 1,250 naval infantrymen and paramilitary policemen would be relieved ''by elements designated by the Lebanese authorities.'' He gave no indication of what forces those might be. The statement did not refer to the Lebanese Government as the sole party responsible for taking over the French positions in the Lebanese capital. Military sources here said this was because French officials in Beirut had had conversations with the various Lebanese factions about avoiding fighting for the areas now patrolled by French soldiers.