San Diego

Nearly 60% of San Diego city schoolteachers favor taking a strike vote to spur stalled contract negotiations, but fewer than half of them are willing to strike, a survey released Tuesday by the teachers union shows.

Questionnaires returned by 2,363 teachers also show that 79% do not want San Diego Teachers Assn. negotiators to accept the school district’s most recent offer and that the vast majority wants the union to press for more pay, smaller class sizes, and health benefits for retiring teachers, union field representative Susan Popovich said.

The survey, taken between Dec. 4 and 13, showed that 44% of the teachers said they would be willing to walk out, while 59% said the union should take a strike vote if December mediation sessions fail to show progress. The final session of the month was held Thursday.

Union President Gail Boyle said the figures indicate union leaders have not organized to take strike action. “It’s telling us right at this time that we need to organize, and we need to press the issue,” Popovich said.

Talks between teachers and the San Diego Unified School District are in mediation, with the two sides still apart on pay, class size, health benefits for retiring teachers, fringe benefits and teacher transfer procedures. No strike vote will be taken until further discussion with a mediator after the holidays, Boyle said.