Irvine : Legal Opinion Clears Way for Teachers’ Bonus

A state attorney general’s opinion has ended a legal dispute over proposed bonus pay to teachers in Irvine, and the county Department of Education will now issue the checks, a department official said Tuesday.

Fred Koch, deputy superintendent of the county Department of Education, said the attorney general’s opinion declared that giving the teachers a one-time bonus from state lottery money does not violate the state Constitution.

Because a section of the state Constitution says “a local government may not grant extra compensation . . . without authority of law,” the county department said the bonus pay is against the law and refused to issue checks for the money that the Irvine Unified School Board already had voted to give its 825 teachers.

“We’re glad about the attorney general’s opinion because this makes it easier for us in the county department also,” Koch said. He said the department will start processing the bonus checks immediately.

The Irvine Unified teachers are scheduled to get two bonus paychecks, ranging between $200 to $400. “The first one was supposed to go to the teachers Jan. 1, but it will be Feb. 1 now because of the delay,” said Paul Reed, a special assistant in Irvine Unified School District.

Reed said he is pleased that Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp “acted with alacrity” in settling the dispute.

Reed said the second bonus paycheck to the teachers will go out June 30, 1987. He said the two bonus paychecks represent about 25% of the total $1.8 million in state lottery money that Irvine Unified received in 1986.