Teachers’ Strike Notebook : Daffy Duck Is on Job; Calculus Master Is Not

Perhaps it’s fitting that in the nation’s film capital, screenings are being used as a primary tool for pacifying youngsters during the teachers’ strike.

At Castelar Street Elementary, for instance, the movie fare has tended toward such obscure educational titles as “Cricket in Times Square” and “The Little Lame Stray.”

Elsewhere, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck cartoons have supplemented a variety of features that could easily be found on the “Hot 100” list at the corner video shop. According to reports from students, parents and administrators, “E.T.” has been shown to Carpenter Avenue Elementary students; “The Golden Child” and “The Thing” have played Verdugo Hills High School; “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “The Fly” have been screened at North Hollywood High School, and “Fright Night” has been featured at the Center for Enriched Studies magnet school.

Not all the films have drawn rave reviews.

“I need my education,” complained Chris Stubblefield, a North Hollywood High senior, who was hanging out with friends in front of a Taco Bell Tuesday morning. “I could stay home and watch my own VCR.”

“Stand and Picket”?

Garfield High School calculus instructor Jaime Escalante, whose classroom heroics were glorified in last year’s feature film, “Stand and Deliver,” was among the thousands of teachers picketing Tuesday.

Escalante, probably the city’s best-known teacher, told reporters, “I have to support the (strike) 100%, because I feel that we deserve better pay and professional pay if we look for quality education.” Fortunately, his students were able to take the national advanced placement calculus exam Friday, one school day before the strike, according to Garfield Principal Maria Tostado.

Also on the picket lines was 42nd Street Elementary School veteran Annya Bell, who lost 19 pounds late last year during a 41-day fast to protest the stalemate in contract negotiations.

Bell, who halted her first fast on doctor’s orders, announced that she has stopped eating again and will continue to do so until the strike is settled. Bell acknowledged that her actions are unlikely to persuade the school board to give in to teachers’ demands. But she added that eschewing edibles will prove personally beneficial.

“I feel very calm and meditative and feel that fasting helps me maintain a calm attitude,” she said. It also helps balance the checkbook. “I don’t know if teachers will pick up on this but it’s one way to cut down on our grocery bills (during the strike),” Bell added.

Outside Crenshaw High School, about 70 students spent Tuesday practicing their striker’s slam dunks and picket-line picks. With little learning available inside, the youngsters were taking to the asphalt for a lengthy series of pick-up basketball games.

“I came to school but there’s nothing happening so I’m out here,” said Sean (Rifleman) Mabry, 16, a forward on the school’s junior varsity team. “If you are on the streets, you can get shot or hurt.”

While the games were organized by the students themselves, Joe Weakley, assistant coach for Crenshaw, a basketball powerhouse, kept a watchful eye over the courts.

“I’d rather see the kids here than where they could get into trouble,” Weakley explained.

Few couples are in the position to become more deeply divided by the strike than Alex and Marie Reza of Valencia.

Alex, a teacher, is hoisting a picket sign at San Fernando High School. Marie, meanwhile, drives through a picket line at nearby San Fernando Junior High School, where she serves as principal.

Although their jobs place them on opposite sides of the fence, no family friction has erupted, says Marie Reza. If anything, she adds, the job action has proven valuable for having focused public attention on education.

“My husband and I have a common belief in the basic philosophy that education should have a higher priority in society and we believe that if more attention and more money were given to education, then perhaps we wouldn’t need to spend so much on defense and the welfare system and the penal system,” she said.