Teachers, 7 Boards Still at Odds Over Pay : Many Officials Blame State Laws

Along with blackboards and textbooks, picket signs are becoming another symbol of education in Orange County.

In recent weeks, teachers have either carried picket signs or made other symbolic protests in Fullerton, Huntington Beach, Anaheim, Westminster, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Orange and Santa Ana. In all, teachers in seven of the county’s 29 school districts remain without contracts, an unusually high number this late in the academic year.

Teacher unions say the protests are symbolic of growing frustration over low pay raises. But school boards say small pay increases are all that can be offered because they have neither money on hand nor any way to raise it.

This financial squeeze stems from an unusual set of state laws, school board officials say.

Restrictive Laws

“California is the only state in the nation which has laws restricting the amount of money that both the state and local school districts can use for education,” said Maureen DiMarco, a Garden Grove Unified School District board member. She referred to the Gann spending limit, an amendment approved by voters in 1979 that restricts overall state spending, including that for education, and 1978’s Proposition 13, which limited local government’s ability to raise property taxes for education and other purposes.

Those restrictions put school districts in a severe bind, according to numerous school board members.

But teachers say they are fed up with having state financial woes come out of their hides.

“It’s always an uphill battle” to get a pay raise, said Prentis Porter, a 27-year instructor who teaches math and computers at Buena Park High School. “It just shouldn’t have to be this way. Teachers should be paid what they’re worth and not have to go through this unsureness of whether they are going to be able to keep up with the cost of living.”

Many administrators, including state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig, agree. Honig is working for an initiative, meant to be placed on the November ballot, that would earmark a percentage of state funds specifically for education, including teacher pay. In a recent interview, Honig said the present system makes it hard for school districts to find money to give teachers adequate pay increases.

“The local school districts just don’t have any money,” Honig said. “Since 1978, about 91% of the financing of local education has come from the state. Prior to 1978, it used to be about half local and half state financed.”

Added Orange County schools Supt. Robert Peterson: “The only way for (school boards) to raise local taxes is with a two-thirds vote (of the electorate), and that’s impossible, given the fact that the population is getting older and many people no longer have children in school.”

Variations in Pay Level

In each of the county’s 29 school districts, pay varies according to how many years a teacher has worked and how much education the teacher has. Pay also varies from district to district because, oddly enough--despite a 1976 state Supreme Court ruling designed to equalize funding among districts--the state does not allocate funds to school districts equally on a per-student basis. Because of old funding formulas now locked into state law, some districts get more per student than adjoining, similar districts.

Orange County school officials say this inequality makes it difficult for districts to achieve equal pay for teachers of similar background and experience. Nonetheless, teacher groups in the county frequently demand what they say is the “countywide average” for pay raises.

“Most people don’t realize the craziness of school financing,” said Deputy Supt. Ken Jones of the Fullerton Joint Union High School District.

The crazy-quilt pattern of school financing is made even worse by last-minute state budget changes year after year, Honig said. Speaking of the proposed initiative that would require the state to give schools a set percentage of its income, Honig said, “We expect to get this initiative on the November ballot, and it will help school districts better plan their spending.”

Another initiative, already qualified for the June ballot, would change the Gann spending limit to make more money available to education, Honig said.

School districts now see their fates rise and fall on budgetary moves by the state Legislature and the governor, a point well known to officials of teacher unions, who say the inconsistencies of state funding make it more difficult to negotiate for contracts.

“Contract talks are getting harder and harder every year,” said Bill Ribblett, executive director of Santa Ana-Tustin Affiliated Teachers and a veteran of 14 years in negotiating teacher contracts. He now is trying to settle stalled teacher-contract talks in Santa Ana.

Sometimes, Ribblett noted, the stalled talks lead to a strike by teachers. Such was the case in October, 1985, when teachers in Tustin Unified School District conducted a six-day strike, the last such walkout to have occurred in Orange County.

“It left lasting scars,” he said. “Strikes turn teachers against teachers, and teachers against administrators,” he said. “There is a lot of bad feeling.”