Most Teachers in West Covina Join Walkout

Most teachers stayed away from their West Covina Unified School District classrooms Wednesday in a strike for a new contract and a guarantee of increased pay for additional school days and longer hours.

California Teachers Assn. spokesman Bill Gordon said 84% of the 325 teachers at 14 schools stayed out, but the estimate by Pat Connolly in the office of District Supt. Don Todd was “closer to 75%.”

It was the first teacher walkout in the district’s history and the first in California since a May 13 state Supreme Court ruling that public employees have the right to strike unless public safety is threatened. To be legal, Gordon noted, previous teacher work stoppages have generally hinged on unfair labor practices rather than on strict economic issues.

Connolly said only 46% of the approximately 7,800 students showed up at the district’s two high schools, two intermediate schools and 10 elementary schools, adding that many students arrived but departed after being encouraged by striking teachers to do so.

Warned of Truancy

Students and parents found teachers in front of schools with homemade signs, calling on them to stay away. Some students said they were told by administrators that they would be considered truant if they left but that nothing would be done to stop them.

Some high school seniors reported being told that their graduation could be in jeopardy but not many stayed to find out. The few students who did remain at Hollencrest School began the day watching cartoons in the cafeteria.

Teachers and the district have been negotiating for 14 months. The old contract expired last June 30. The teachers voted to strike last week but, according to Connolly, did not notify the district officially until 7:30 a.m. Wednesday that they would walk out.

Nearly 70 substitutes were brought in, many classes were doubled up and the schedule (already shortened for Wednesday) was ordered reduced for today.

The schools are scheduled to be closed for the four-day Memorial Day holiday beginning Friday. “Hopefully, it will be solved by Tuesday,” Gordon said.

No Greater Cost to District

The teachers seek a 6 1/2% pay increase this year to compensate them for the district’s five added school days and longer teaching days. Gordon said this does not mean appreciably greater cost to the district because legislation passed last year allows the district to receive more state aid for the longer hours.

The district is offering a 4.77% increase this year as part of a four-year contract that would provide for a 24.7% pay raise over four years.

“We’d go along with that formula for the future years if the (district) board would guarantee it,” Gordon said. But he contended that without binding arbitration, which the board is unwilling to grant, any subsequent pay disputes would have to be fought out in the courts.

Connolly argued, however, that “a contract is a contract. Once they agree on a salary increase, that would be in it and that automatically is binding.”