Some After-School Activities Canceled : Salary Issue Stalls Teacher Talks

A year ago, in protracted contract talks that were described as among the most bitter in the history of the San Diego Unified School District, many of the district’s 5,800 teachers showed their union solidarity by refusing to participate in extracurricular activities, picketing the homes of school board members and wearing buttons bearing an “X” through a picture of Supt. Thomas Payzant.

On Thursday, as negotiators for the San Diego Teachers Assn. and the district sat down to continue this year’s increasingly acrimonious bargaining sessions, the union was plotting similar strategies. The teachers have been working without a contract since June 30, and negotiations, which to date have proved fruitless, have been running since April.

As in past years, the basic hangup is salaries. Earlier this week, district negotiator Ann Stombs reported that the district offered teachers a three-year contract with a cumulative raise of 18% to 26.5%, with the final figure to be determined by the increase in the cost of living. The figure would be set later by the school board, and depend on the district’s share of proceeds from the California State Lottery.

A year ago, teachers ratified a one-year contract with a 10.64% salary and medical-benefits increase. In earlier bargaining sessions this year, the union had asked for a one-year contract with an 11.5% raise, plus a share of the lottery revenue. Another round of talks is scheduled for next week.

Teachers union President John Felicitas said the union on Thursday proposed that teachers receive a 9% salary increase this year and control of 20% of the district’s revenue from the lottery. That money would be spent on reducing class size.

In the subsequent two years, Felicitas said, the union wants salary increases comparable to the increase in the cost of living, plus 2% of the lottery revenue in 1986-87 and 1% of lottery money in 1987-88.

Stombs said the district expects to receive $5 million to $10 million in lottery revenue this year, and $15 million to $20 million in the next two years, when the lottery will operate for a full 12 months.

“We’re still very far apart,” Stombs said. “We had anticipated a settlement (proposal) from the union, but they made no major concessions. The school board wants control over the lottery money.”

She estimated that, under the union’s proposal, the maximum annual salary of a San Diego teacher would increase from the current $33,900 to $42,000.

In exchange for giving teachers the lottery revenue and the three-year contract offer, Felicitas said, the district has asked the union to drop its non-monetary demands, which include a ceiling on student-teacher ratios, policies on transfers and promotions of teachers, “mainstreaming” of special education students into regular classes, and right-to-strike clauses.

“We considered Thursday to be the first real day of nitty-gritty bargaining,” Felicitas said. “We’re really disappointed that we have moved farther apart on the non-money issues and that the district is not willing now to deal with those.”

Since the negotiations began, the union has been demanding a share of the lottery proceeds, and Felicitas said the union was “encouraged to see them add the lottery to their contract proposal. But there is no change in the language for the other provisions of the contract. It’s pretty much of an all-or-nothing situation from their point of view at this point, which we find unacceptable.”

Before Thursday’s talks began, Felicitas laid out a schedule of protest actions aimed at forcing a settlement. At Tuesday’s meeting of the school board, more than 500 teachers announced that they would curtail participation in after-school, extracurricular activities, as they did a year ago. Several elementary school Halloween carnivals scheduled for Thursday night were canceled as a result.

The union is asking all teachers in the district to wear black today as a sign of solidarity.

Next week, Felicitas said, if there is no settlement reached, “informational picketing” is planned at schools and major intersections in the city.

After Nov. 12, picketing will be expanded to homes of school board members. A strike authorization vote is at least a month away, he said.

“I know some students and parents feel we’re using them as blackmail tools, but they need to realize that there is more to education than carnivals and Halloween parties,” Felicitas said. “This is the best way we know to get their attention.”