Talks Fail to End Strike by Orange Teachers

Orange Unified School District’s strike is no closer to settlement after a negotiating session Sunday afternoon, and teachers will not be in their classrooms again today, said Mark Rona, president of the teachers union.

All classes will be held today in the district, said Russell Barrios, president of the Board of Education. “I hope all parents will see that their children are in school,” he said. “Sending children to school, where they belong, is something that is not making a statement of support for either the teachers or the school district.”

The sprawling, 24,500-student district provides schools for Orange, Villa Park and parts of Anaheim, Garden Grove and Santa Ana. Teachers staged a one-day strike April 12 and have been striking since Thursday.

Rona, president of Orange Unified Education Assn., predicted that teachers would stay out in large numbers today. He said instructors are angry about the lack of progress at negotiations this weekend.

Session ‘a Waste of Time’

Rona said the informal session with school district administrators was “a waste of time.” The two sides met for about three hours to find some way to end the strike.

“They (district negotiators) aren’t budging; they’re not willing to add any new money,” Rona said. “The teachers will be out again Monday, and right now it appears we’ll also be on strike Tuesday.”

District officials said they are hoping that a state labor mediator--an expert in strike situations--can resolve the crisis this week. The mediator, Draza Mrvichin, is scheduled to meet with union and school district officials Tuesday afternoon.

Barrios said the school district is still seeking a breakthrough. “We do want to make movement,” he said. “We’ve never closed the door.”

But some parents and students in the district this weekend complained that neither side seems any closer to a settlement. Parents of one school affected by the strike--Lampson Elementary in Garden Grove--announced that they will meet near the school at 5:30 p.m. today to try to find their own solutions to ending the work action.

The dispute is over a new contract and pay raise for the teachers. Barrios said the school district’s last offer--made early Thursday morning just before negotiations broke off--was for a 2.54% one-time-only bonus for this year.

Rona said the union Sunday lowered its demand for a pay raise from 3.61% to 3.45%. He said the proposed raise should be “on the schedule,” thus a continuing pay enhancement rather than a one-time-only bonus.

The union also is continuing to ask for a commitment from the district for half of any new education money that Orange Unified may get in future months.

The union’s proposal notes that initiatives going before voters in June and November could bring millions more into education. At least 50% of the money coming to Orange Unified from such legislation should go for teacher salaries, the union said.

Barrios said he cannot agree to “such a blank-check proposal.”

“We don’t know right now what state restrictions might be on any of the new money that might be coming in,” he said.

Orange Unified teachers are scheduled to meet with Rona at Hart Park in Orange at 6:30 a.m. today. Rona acknowledged that some teachers want to return to the classroom “because they’re up against the wall financially.” He noted that teachers are being docked a day’s pay for each day they stay out on strike.

Strike Support Called Strong

“Some are single parents, and I know how this is hurting them,” Rona said. But he said the vast majority of teachers support the strike.

Some union picket captains meeting Sunday afternoon said teachers would like to return to classes Tuesday. “My teachers will be out Monday, but I can’t guarantee about Tuesday,” said one picket captain. Another picket captain said she herself planned to return to classes Tuesday, even if the strike is not over.

Others at the meeting, which drew about 30 picket captains, said teachers must continue to support the strike. “We all have concerns, but we can’t let go now,” said Jim Moore, a seventh- and eighth-grade teacher at Cerro Villa Middle School in Villa Park.

Another picket captain added, “I’m going to be out as long as it takes.”

Parents of Lampson School students are going to meet at 5:30 p.m. today in Twin Lakes Park, near Lampson School, 13321 Lampson Ave. in Garden Grove, Evelyn Christensen said.

“We hope that parents, by getting together, may have some clout,” she said.