Local News in Brief : Las Virgenes Teachers Start Work Slowdown
Las Virgenes teachers have begun a work slowdown to protest stalled salary talks in their Westlake Village-based school system, school district officials were informed Thursday night.
“You’re not willing to pay for excellence. I think you’ll get average from us,” Karen Lough, the president of the teachers’ union, told school board members. “The teachers of this district are tired of empty promises.”
Contract negotiations broke off last month with the 346 teachers asking an 8% raise and officials offering 6%. Union leaders said their slowdown involves reducing the time they spend on extracurricular activities.
But Larry Grossman, an 18-year-old Calabasas High School senior, charged that the teachers have also refused to write letters of recommendation to colleges.
“Students need them to get into college. The students are scared,” said Grossman, who serves as the student representative to the board of education.
School board member Ron Jauch told about 150 teachers attending the board meeting that they must “try to understand all sides” of the salary dispute.
“We’re not together. I put as much blame on ourselves as on you,” he said.
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