Trustees OK Action to Discipline Strikers at Anaheim Schools

Bracing for a threatened strike, trustees of Anaheim Union School District moved Saturday to punish teachers who participate with loss of salary or disciplinary action and to hire up to 700 substitutes.

The action came 1 day after a union representing 900 teachers in the district voted overwhelmingly to stage a 1-day strike Wednesday to protest stalled contract negotiations.

School officials reaffirmed their plans to keep schools open despite the strike.

The five board members, along with most of the district’s ranking administrators, gathered at district headquarters in the unusual emergency meeting Saturday morning. One key decision makes it extremely difficult for regularly employed teachers to take a sick or personal day off during the walkout.

“We took these measures basically to tighten up on our policies and to prepare for the strike. We do not expect that this (union) action will result in any disruption of the educational process,” said Leroy L. Kellogg, assistant superintendent for administrative services.

Deficit Cited

Teachers, whose salaries range from $21,000 to $42,000 annually, are demanding an immediate 3.2% wage increase. The district, facing declining enrollments and claiming to have run a multimillion-dollar deficit last school year, has offered wage rates based on its total budget, with no specific increases guaranteed.

With the board’s approval Saturday, teachers who would normally be allowed to use a sick day or take a leave of personal necessity will now be required to fully document their absence, such as by providing a note from a physician.

The board decided that requests for leave must be made directly to the district’s assistant superintendent for personnel services, rather than local principals.

“What these resolutions say is that we are simply not authorizing leaves (for the day of the strike) unless they have valid (reasons.) The resolution states that they (teachers without authorized absences) will face either a loss of salary or disciplinary procedures or both,” Kellogg said.

The head of the Anaheim Secondary Teachers Assn., Leonard Lahtinen, said the board actions were not unexpected.

‘No Respect for Teachers’

“That would be standard operating procedure for them,” said Lahtinen. “They have little or no respect for teachers as it is. Why should they start now?”

The last contract between the union and the district expired last August. Despite the attempts of a state mediator, the two sides have failed to reach any agreement.

Kellogg said the salary dispute is based upon different perceptions of whether or not the district, which is facing continually declining enrollments and worsening deficits, can afford the demands of the teachers.

The last offer made by the district would hold teacher salaries for the next school year to the same proportion of the total budget as this year--after a reserve fund of 2.5% is set aside. Any money left over would be given to the teachers in the form of salary increases, up to a total of 5%.

In the following year, there would be salary increases after a 3% reserve fund was established, with a maximum salary increase of 8%.

The union is demanding 3.2% salary increase for this year, in addition to 41% of what is left after the 2.5% reserve is set aside.